UCLA
Pac-12 Championships - Day 2
Neave's 1M Title Highlights Day 2 of Pac-12s for UCLA
February 27, 2020 | Swimming & Diving
FEDERAL WAY, Wash. โ Junior Ruby Neave captured the 1-meter diving crown to highlight the second day of the 2020 Pac-12 Championships for UCLA.
Neave won the 1M crown with a final score of 329.30, a season-best. She becomes the third consecutive Bruin to win 1M at Pac-12s, following in the footsteps of Maria Polyakova (2019) and Eloise Belanger (2018).
The Bruins also had a number of athletes make A Finals on Thursday.
Sophomore Claire Grover placed fifth in the 50 free (22.18) to give her two top-five finishes in that event at Pac-12s in as many years.
Senior Kenisha Liu (1:57.37) and sophomore Delaney Smith (1:58.44) placed 6-7 in the 200 IM in what was a standout event for the Bruins, as Ella Kirschke (1:58.65, 10th) and Amy Okada (1:59.55, 19th) both made the finals and recorded best times.
Senior Lisa Kaunitz opened the evening's swim events with a seventh place finish in the C Final of the 500 free with a time of 4:51.50, just behind her season-best time of 4:49.24 from the preliminary round.
Neave won both the prelims and finals in 1M, posting a 323.25 in the early round. However, she had to come from behind to claim the top score in the finals, posting a 63.00 on her final dive to make up an eight-point deficit and jump over Stanford's Mia Paulsen who had been in the lead heading into the sixth dive.
Freshman Hannah Butler also made the finals in 1M, finishing eighth with a season-best score of 284.40.
The Bruins closed the evening with a fifth-place finish in the 200 free relay, as the A Team of Claire Grover, Rachel Rhee, Maisie Jameson, and Sophia Kosturos finished in 1:30.44. In the first heat, UCLA's B Team of Brooke Schaffer, Amy Okada, Gabrielle Anderson, and Gabby Dang had a solid showing at 1:30.52
Several Bruin swimmers recorded best times in the prelims, including Abriana Howard (200 IM, 2:02.11), Lia Foster (200 IM, 2:02.84), Delaney Smith (200 IM, 1:58.31), Sophie Clarkowski (50 free, 24.30), Olivia Andrew (50 free, 23.33), Gabrielle Anderson (50 free, 22.96), Gabby Dang (50 free, 22.89), Rachel Rhee (50 free, 22.74), Maisie Jameson (50 free, 22.68), and Sophia Kosturos (50 free, 22.66).
The Bruins continue Pac-12s on Friday, with finals in the 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, 3M diving, and 200 medley relay.
Players Mentioned
