UCLA
Pac-12 Championships
Polyakova Claims 3M Crown to Lead Bruins on Day Three of Pac-12s
March 01, 2019 | Swimming & Diving
FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – After winning the 3-meter diving title on Friday with a score of 350.70, UCLA senior Maria Polyakova was crowned a Pac-12 Champion for the second consecutive day to headline UCLA's third day at the Pac-12 Championships at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center.
Polyakova's 3M title was the fourth Pac-12 Individual Championship of her career. She topped the podium for Thursday's 1-meter diving championship as well, posting a score of 335.70. The Moscow, Russia native previously won 3M at Pac-12s at the 2017 Championships.
This is the second consecutive year that UCLA has swept the 1M and 3M competitions, as fellow senior Eloise Belanger accomplished the task in 2018 en route to Pac-12 Diver of the Year honors. Belanger placed fourth on Friday with a score of 320.70.
Polyakova won the title by a margin of less than five points over second-place finisher Carolina Sculti of Stanford. Polyakova trailed Sculti by over 20 points heading into the final dive of the day, but nailed her final dive to receive a score of 67.50 (her second-best of the day). Sculti meanwhile logged just a 43.40 on her last attempt.
Fresh off a double-podium day on Thursday, freshman Claire Grover had another solid performance on Friday in the 100 breast. At 59.54, she broke the minute mark for the first time this year during the prelim to take second. She then shaved four-hundredths of a second off that time in the A Final to end up fourth at 59.50. Yesterday, she was the third-place finisher in the 50 free and also swam as part of UCLA's third-place 200 free relay team.
Senior Emma Schanz recorded the Bruins' final top-10 finish of the night, placing eighth in the 100 back with a season-best time of 53.25.
UCLA went 1-2-3 in the C Final of the 400 IM. Freshman Delaney Smith led the way with a B-Cut and season-best time of 4:15.63. She was followed by Lisa Kaunitz (4:17.34) and Ella Kirschke (4:17.83), who both set season-bests as well.
Junior Amy Okada matched her best time of 52.97 to take 13th in the 100 fly. Jennifer Lathrop was the first-place finisher in the C Final of the same event, with a season-best time of 53.73.
Kenisha Liu was the Bruins' top performer in the 200 free, taking 16th place at 1:46.77. Olivia Andrew (1:47.30) and Sandra Soe (1:47.34) finished 2-3 in the C Final of that event.
UCLA concluded its night with a sixth-place showing in the 400 medley relay, finishing in 3:36.06.
The Bruins continue action at the Pac-12 Championships on Saturday. Scheduled events include the 1650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, women's platform diving, and 400 free relay. The Pac-12 Networks will televise the finals starting at 6:30 p.m.
Players Mentioned
