University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
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No. 25 UCLA Bested by USC in Crosstown Rivalry Meet
February 15, 2019 | Swimming & Diving
LOS ANGELES – The No. 25-ranked UCLA swim & dive team closed suffered a 181-117 loss to crosstown rival USC on Friday afternoon at Uytengsu Aquatics Center in the final regular season dual meet for both teams.
The Bruins dropped to 8-3, 4-3 with the loss while the No. 15 Trojans moved to 7-2, 5-2.
Senior diver Eloise Belanger was a standout for the Bruins, winning both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving championships.
Her 3m score of 346.80 bested the field by a wide margin (second-place Madison Witt of USC notched a 300.00) and was not far behind her season-best of 348.38 set earlier this month at Stanford.
She completed the sweep with a win in the 1m, posting a score of 314.40. She and second-place finisher Naomi Gowlett were separated by less than a point heading into their final dives.
Other Bruins with strong Fridays included seniors Sandra Soe and Emma Schanz.
Soe picked up a pair of wins in distance events. Swimming the mile for just the second time this season, Soe approached the UCLA's school record with a final time of 16:02.88. That mark was less than three seconds off the school standard and qualified as an NCAA B Cut.
Despite the lengthy swim, Soe bounced back to win the 500 freestyle in 4:47.44. That time was her second best of the campaign.
Schanz claimed UCLA's final individual event win of the afternoon with a 53.47 showing in the 100 back. It was both her best time in that event this year and an NCAA B Cut. Mara Newman (54.17, fourth) and Abriana Howard (54.55, fifth) both scored and posted season-bests in the 100 back as well.
The Bruins closed the meet on a high note, as their A Team (Claire Grover, Kenisha Liu, Amy Okada, Maisie Jameson) won the 200 free relay with a season-best time of 1:29.10. It was the fourth time this season that UCLA won the 200 free relay in a dual meet.
Liu posted a season-best time of 1:45.89 to take third place in the 200 free.
Claire Grover was UCLA's top finisher in the 100 breast. Her time of 1:00.86 narrowly missed a season-best and was just behind first place Riley Scott's 59.68.
Okada shaved nearly three seconds off her previous season-best in the 200 fly, coming in at 1:56.89.
Liu afforded herself well in the sprint races. Before the break, she placed second in the 50 free with a time of 22.61, making her the second Bruin this year to grab a B Cut in that event (Grover). After the break, she once again came in second at 48.56, a season-best and another B Cut.
UCLA went 2-4 in the 200 back, led by Newman's season-best time of 1:55.43. She was followed by Howard (1:57.20) and Jennifer Lathrop (1:58.09), who both recorded new season-bests.
Okada grabbed her second B Cut of the day with a season-best time of 52.97 in the 100 fly, good for third.
UCLA returns to Uytengsu on Saturday for the platform diving championship, which starts at 10:00 a.m. Scores for that event will not count towards Friday's totals.
Players Mentioned
