FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – Eloise Belanger entered the 2018 Pac-12 Swimming & Diving Championships without a conference title to her name. Saturday, she will take on the Platform in search of her third. The junior won her second event in as many days at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center Friday, capturing the 3-Meter title with a final-round score of 369.75.
With the win, Belanger joined Kristen Walls as one of only two Bruin divers to capture the 1-Meter and 3-Meter contests in the same Pac-10/12 Championships. Walls did it twice (1993, 1994). The Montreal, QC, Canada native became the fourth Bruin woman to win the 3-Meter contest, joining Walls, Amy Sloan (1996) and Maria Polyakova (2017).
It was also a milestone day on the swimming front, as Katie Grover set a new school record in the 200 Free. Taking fifth in the "A" final, the senior turned in a time of 1:44.18 to surpass her own mark of 1:44.68 that she set in Friday's preliminary round. That mark bested Kenisha Liu's 1:44.71 set on the lead leg of Wednesday's 800 Free Realy.
Junior Emma Schanz also participated in an "A" final Friday night, taking seventh in the 100 Back with a time of 53.07. The Bruin "A" team of Schanz, Sarah Kaunitz, Amy Okada and Liu notched a time of 3:36.58 to take fifth in the 400 Medley Relay race that concluded Friday's competitions.
Liu took seventh in the 200 Free "B" final, touching the wall at 1:46.21. Sarah Kaunitz also reached a "B" final, charting a time of 1:01.58 in the 100 Breast to finish fifth. Three Bruins picked up wins in "C" finals, with Okada taking the 100 Fly (53.47), Emma Cain the 100 Breast (1:02.96) and Jennifer Lathrop the 100 Back (54.18).
The night belonged to Belanger, though. The junior totaled a 308.10 mark in Friday's preliminary round, placing her sixth in a talented field. Her final dive of that round, though—a 5152B that went for a score of 64.50—represented a sign of things to come.
Belanger charted four dives in the final round that scored at least 60.75. A 305B third dive allowed her to head into the halfway point firmly holding the lead, as she kept her competitors at bay. Her 70.50 205B fifth dive appeared to place her on the top podium spot for good, but Ashley McCool of Arizona State posed a scare by matching that score on her sixth and final dive. Fortunately for Belanger, she was able to hold on by just 1.80 to become the new Pac-12 champion.
The Pac-12 Championships will conclude Saturday with the 200 Back, 100 Free, 200 Breast, 200 Fly, 1650 Free, 400 Free Relay and Platform competitions. Preliminaries will begin at 11 am. Pac-12 Networks will provide coverage of the finals, beginning at 6:30 p.m.
TEAM RANKINGS – THROUGH EVENT 14
1. Stanford - 1230.5
2. California - 1028
3. Arizona State - 667
4. Arizona - 605.5
5. USC - 547.5
6. UCLA - 526.5
7. Utah - 322
8. Washington State - 230
9. Oregon State - 150