UCLA
Arizona State
Bruins Win Third Straight, Top ASU 160-140
November 03, 2018 | Swimming & Diving
LOS ANGELES – The UCLA swimming and diving team wrapped up a successful weekend by topping Arizona State 160-140 on Saturday morning at Spieker Aquatics Center.
Redshirt senior Maria Polyakova had a banner day in the diving part of the competition to lead the Bruins (3-0) to victory. The Moscow, Russia native set new school and Dirks Pool records with a 355.50 score in the 1m, shattering her previous mark of 339.05 by 16.45 points. That result put UCLA over the 150-mark and clinched the win.
Earlier in the day, Polyakova secured a first-place result in the 3m with a season-best score of 339.75.
Senior Traci Shiver also had a strong day on the springboard, setting new PRs in both the 1m (254.10) and 3m (270.23). Freshman Veronica Thompson was the fifth-place finisher in both events, recording scores of 233.18 in the 1m and 239.25 in the 3m.
"That's about as strong as Maria has performed during her time here," said UCLA head diving coach Tom Stebbins. "This has been a strong period of work for our team, but we've been focusing on being more relaxed and loose, and that showed today."
In the pool, Amy Okada (100 back, 200 back), Sandra Soe (500 free, 1000 free), and Claire Grover (100 free, 100 breast) all secured multiple event wins. Maisie Jameson (50 free) and Emily Lo (200 breast) both logged their first wins of the year as well.
The Bruins got off to a strong start on Saturday, winning the first two events and placing two of the top three-finishers in the third.
UCLA's A Team in the 400 medley relay opened the meet with a win, taking first at 3:48.40 and edging out ASU's top relay by less than a half-second.
Soe followed up with a solid showing in the 1000 free, touching in 10:05.98 and beating the second-place finisher by almost eight seconds.
The 200 free was a dramatic race, as Kenisha Liu battled for the lead with a trio of Sun Devils over the first half of the race. While Liu (1:51.13) ended up missing out on first by a hair, freshman Delaney Smith surged over the final 50 yards to take third place at 1:51.44.
The Bruins went 2-3-4 in the 100 backstroke, with Emma Schanz (56.02), Mara Newman (57.00), and Jennifer Lathrop (57.05) finishing in quick succession.
Claire Grover got UCLA back on track in the 100 breast, taking first place at 1:02.90. It was Grover's second win in the 100 breast in as many days.
In the 200 fly, Amy Okada continued her dominance with a first-place finish of 2:00.65. She has won the 200 fly in all three of UCLA's dual meets this season. She finished off a sweep of the fly events later in the morning with a first-place time of 55.14 in the 100 fly. The latter win put the Bruins on the precipice of victory.
Maisie Jameson sent the Bruins into the first break on a positive note, placing first in the 50 free at 23.60 for her first event win of the season. Ella Kirschke also netted key points for the Bruins with a third-place finish at 23.82.
At the first break, UCLA enjoyed an 85-65 advantage over the Sun Devils.
The start of the second half of the day was marked by a strong 100 free for the Bruins, which had three of the top-four finishers including winner Claire Grover (50.50). Liu (51.18) and Kirschke (51.26) had solid showings as well to round out UCLA's scorers.
The Bruins went 2-3-4 in the 200 back, led by Mara Newman's 2:01.83 and followed by Jennifer Lathrop (2:02.66) and Delaney Smith (2:02.81).
Emily Lo secured her first career win in the 200 breaststroke, coming in with a time of 2:16.98.
Soe wrapped up a dominant meet with another win in the 500 free, finishing in 4:56.46, the lone swimmer to break the five-minute mark.
UCLA's A Team concluded the day with a first-place finish of 1:32.32 in the 200 freestyle relay.
UCLA continues its homestand next weekend, hosting UC Santa Barbara and UC San Diego at Spieker on Saturday, Nov. 10. The diving team will go across town for the USC Diving Invitational from Friday, Nov. 9 to Sunday, Nov. 11.
Players Mentioned
