University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA
Pac-12 Championships - Day 3
Bruins in Fourth After Third Day of Pac-12s
February 28, 2020 | Swimming & Diving
FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – After three days of competition at the 2020 Pac-12 Championships at the King County Aquatic Center, the No. 24-ranked UCLA swim and dive team in in a solid fourth-place position with 701.5 points. This is the first time UCLA has been in fourth or higher heading into the final day of Pac-12s since 2014.
Highlights from Friday for the Bruins included three divers finishing in the top-7 of the 3M diving championship, top-five finishes from Claire Grover (100 breast) and Amy Okada (100 fly), a standout performance in the 400 IM from Ella Kirschke, as well as a slew of personal bests squad-wide.
Kirschke started off Friday's finals session for UCLA with a sixth-place finish in the 400 IM. She touched in 4:11.53, a new best time and over five seconds better than her performance at 2019 Pac-12s.
Five other Bruins, for a total of six, reached the 400 IM finals. Delaney Smith was third in the B Final with a best time of 4:12.62. Lisa Kaunitz (4:18.19) and Stephanie Su (4:19.12, best time) finished 1-2 in the C final, where they were joined by Jessica Epps (4:21.07, 20th) and Katie Sulkevich (4:28.59, 24th).
Okada followed that up with an outstanding performance in the 100 fly, finishing the race in 52.37. That represented her second time recording a best time on Friday – she entered the day at 52.82 but swam a 52.80 in the prelims. Her current time puts her squarely on the bubble of NCAA qualification, as she currently ranks 41st in the NCAA.
Other UCLA finalists in the 100 fly included Gabby Dang (53.60, 12th), Emily Lo (53.83, 13th), and Gabrielle Anderson (54.40, 19th).
Senior Kenisha Liu was the Bruins' top finisher in the 200 free, winning the B Final and placing ninth overall with a time of 1:45.09. Brooke Schaffer also made the B Final, finishing 16th at 1:48.33 while Olivia Andrew was 18th with a time of 1:47.50.
In an extremely close race, Grover was the fifth place finisher in the 100 breast. The top-five swimmers were in a virtual dead heat heading into the final 25 yards of the race, with Stanford's Allie Raab touching first at 59.35. Grover was ultimately less than a second behind at 1:00.21. Freshman Rachel Rhee also made the A Final in the 100 breast, clocking in at 1:00.70. Emily Lo (1:01.50, 13th) rounded out UCLA's finalists in that event.
Freshman Sophia Kosturos gave the Bruins another B Final win after she swam a best time of 52.75 in the 100 back.
UCLA divers had another strong night on Friday, with junior Ruby Neave and freshmen Katie Shaheen and Hannah Butler all reaching the 3-meter diving finals and finishing top-8. All three logged collegiate-best scores in Friday's competition.
Neave was UCLA's highest finisher in 3M, taking third at 334.85. After winning the 1-meter diving title on Thursday - UCLA's third consecutive Pac-12 champion in 1M - Neave is one of two divers to have finished top-three in both 1M and 3M (Stanford's Carolina Sculti).
Not far behind Neave were Shaheen (307.25) and Butler (306.60), who both broke the 300-point barrier in that event for the first time. All three had already secured qualification into the NCAA Zone E Diving Championships, where they will compete from Mar. 9-11.
Sulkevich (400 IM, 4:26.26) and Brooke Schaffer (200 free, 1:47.81) set best times during the preliminary round on Friday.
The 2020 Pac-12 Championships conclude on Saturday with finals in the 1650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, 400 free relay, and platform diving.
Women's Team Point Totals (through event 14)
1. Stanford, 1,027
2. California, 866.5
3. USC, 768
4. UCLA, 701.5
5. ASU, 635.5
6. Arizona, 530
7. Utah, 422.5
8. WSU, 265
Players Mentioned
