FEDERAL WAY, Wash. -- The UCLA swimming and diving team concluded its time at the Pac-12 Swimming & Diving Championships Saturday with a sixth-place finish, while Katie Grover posted her second school record of the four-day event. Eloise Belanger was named Diver of the Meet after placing fourth on Platform.
Grover's 1:54.41 in the "A" final of the 200 Fly was more than a second faster than her preliminary-round performance. The mark bested Noelle Tarazona's previous record of 1:54.65, set in 2015. Grover was one of three Bruins to reach an "A" final Saturday, as Kenisha Liu took fourth (48.30) in the 100 Free and Emma Schanz fifth in the 200 Breast (2:07.90). The 400 Free Relay "A" team clocked in at 3:16.99 to take fifth in the final event of the week.
Diver Belanger, who won the 1-Meter and 3-Meter contests in previous days, took fourth on Platform Saturday. The junior qualified third (283.25), while four other Bruins placed in the top 18. Madeline Russell was tops among them at 10th (206.95). Belanger turned in three dive scores of at least 55.10 in the final round, including a 68.80 on her 5253B final dive.
For her week, Belanger made it back-to-back Diver of the Meet honors for Bruins. Last year, Maria Polyakova earned the honor after turning in three podium finishes.
The first swimming event of the day, the 1650 Free, saw Margaux Verger Gourson place sixth with a time of 16:12.52—1.67 seconds faster than her seed time.
A pair of freshmen continued strong showings in their first Pac-12 Championships, as Jennifer Lathrop took third in the 200 Back "B" final with a time of 1:55.89. Lucy Agnew, meanwhile, took fifth in the "C" final with a 1:57.95 mark.
Liu, who touched the wall at 48.43 when the Bruins hosted USC (Feb. 9), bested that time Saturday with her in the 100 Free. While veterans Schanz and Sarah Kaunitz (2:12.81 to take sixth in "B" final) turned in strong finishes in the 200 Breast, freshman Emma Cain picked up her second "C" final win in as many days (2:13.16).
The Bruins may have shined brightest Saturday in the 200 Fly. Not only did Grover turn in her second school-record time of Pac-12s, but a quartet of others also reached finals. Amy Okada took seventh in the "B" final with a time of 1:58.47, while Allison Goldblatt (second, 1:58.02), Emily House (sixth, 1:59.50) and Marie-Pierre Delisle (seventh, 1:59.81) improved on their preliminary times in the "C" final.
Sarah Kaunitz, Liu, Grover and Okada teamed to best their seed time by over four seconds to tack 50 points onto UCLA's overall total, which ended at 847.5.
TEAM RANKINGS – THROUGH EVENT 21
1. Stanford - 1776.5
2. California - 1487
3. Arizona State - 996
4. USC - 948.5
5. Arizona - 932.5
6. UCLA - 847.5
7. Utah - 441
8. Washington State - 307
9. Oregon State - 199