UCLA
UC San Diego (Swimming Only)
UCLA Tops UCSB, UCSD to Deliver Milestone 200th Win for Gallagher
January 11, 2019 | Swimming & Diving
LOS ANGELES โ The UCLA swimming team topped both UC Santa Barbara and UC San Diego in a double-dual meet on Friday afternoon at Spieker Aquatics Center to deliver head coach Cyndi Gallagher the milestone 200th and 201st wins of her illustrious career.
The win moved the Bruins' record to 7-0 on the year. With seven straight dual meet wins out of the gate, UCLA is off to its best start since the 2012-13 squad which reeled off 11 straight to start the year.
Seniors Sandra Soe (500 free, 1000 free) and Emma Schanz (100 back, 200 IM) and freshman Claire Grover (50 free, 100 free) served as UCLA's multi-event winners with two apiece. Sophia Cavalli and Emily Lo both earned their first event wins of the 2018-19 campaign.
The competition opened with a UCLA win in the 200 medley relay, as the A Team of Emma Schanz, Claire Grover, Emily Lo, and Kenisha Liu raced to a 1:41.05 finish, their second-best time of the year.
Sandra Soe broke the 10-minute mark for the first time this season in the 1000 free, completing the race in 9:52.69 and winning by a wide margin. Freshman Katie Sulkevich was second with a season-best 10:12.70.
Freshman Sophia Cavalli picked up her first collegiate win in the 200 free, leading the pack most of the way and holding off a late challenge from UCSB's Emily Ward to maintain first place. She touched in 1:50.93, and was followed closely by Ella Kirschke's third-place time of 1:51.99.
Emma Schanz raced a 54.37 in the 100 back to win the event for the second time this week โ improving on her USD/Harvard time by over a second โ and the fourth time this season. Jennifer Lathrop was the second-place finisher at 56.52.
Kenisha Liu was the Bruins' top finisher in the 100 breaststroke, taking second place with a time of 1:03.62.
Amy Okada continued her strong performance in the 200 butterfly, improving on her time from Monday by over a second at 2:00.16, narrowly missing out on her third sub-2:00 time of the year.
UCLA concluded the first half of the meet with a 1-2 showing in the 50 free, with Claire Grove touching first in 23.14 and Maisie Jameson coming in second at 23.58.
Grover picked up her second consecutive win with a 51.32 time in the 100 free, cashing in nine valuable points for the Bruins.
Abriana Howard became the second Bruin of the day to record her first collegiate win, completing the 200 back in 2:00.92. She led for nearly the entire race. Mara Newman touched next, in 2:03.69, to deliver more points for UCLA.
Emily Lo took first place in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:17.58, her second-best time of the year behind the NCAA B-Cut of 2:13.97 at the Georgia Fall Invitational on Dec. 1, 2018. Delaney Smith (2:22.16) and Lisa Kaunitz (2:27.30) both made their 2018-19 debuts in the 200 breast.
Soe turned in her second-best time of the year (4:51.96) to take first place in the 500 free. Sulkevich concluded a strong afternoon with a season-best time of 5:00.13 to nab her second runner-up finish of the meet. In her first 500 free outing of the season, Allison Goldblatt won the second heat with a time of 5:04.03.
Kenisha Liu posted a season-best time of 54.35 to win the 100 fly, and was followed closely by Emma Schanz who took third at 55.03 in her first 100 fly attempt of the year.
In the final individual event of the day, Emma Schanz picked up win No. 2 for the meet with a 2:01.47 time in the 200 IM. Delaney Smith was third with a time of 2:05.14.
The Bruins closed the meet with a win in the 200 free relay, as the UCLA A Team of Liu, Grover, Jameson, and Okada touched in 1:32.55, the squad's third-best time of the season.
UCLA is back in action next week with its final home events of the campaign. The Bruins will host Oregon State in a dual meet on Saturday, Jan. 19, and the diving squad will all host the Bruin Diving Invitational from Friday, Jan. 18 to Sunday, Jan. 20.
Players Mentioned
