University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA
California
Bruins Record 11 B Cuts at Cal
January 31, 2021 | Swimming & Diving
BERKELEY, Calif. โ The UCLA swim and dive team recorded 11 individual NCAA B cuts over a two-day dual meet at California, but endured a 218-119 loss to the host Golden Bears.
Freshman Sam Baron led the way for UCLA with three B cuts, doing so in both butterfly events as well as the 200 IM. Juniors Ella Kirschke (200 IM, 400 IM) and Claire Grover (100 breast, 50 free) also recorded multiple B cuts.
Sophomore diver Hannah Butler notched the lone event win of the weekend for the Bruins, scoring a season-best 294.68 in the 3M competition to take first place. Butler was also the runner-up in 1-meter diving with a score of 260.03. Sophomore Katie Shaheen (268.73, third place) and freshman Aurora Huxman (collegiate-best 259.80, fourth place) also had notable finishes in the 3-meter competition.
The Bruins opened the meet with three separate swimmers notching B cuts in the 200 IM. Junior Delaney Smith paced the Bruins with a time of 1:59.32, but she was followed closely by Kirschke (1:59.51) and Baron (1:59.74). Smith knocked off over seven seconds from her 200 IM time last weekend at USC.
Freshman Greta Fanta swam a 4:52.88 in the 500 free, the best time by a Bruin in that event this year. UCLA had three of the four scorers in the other distance freestyle event โ the 1650 free โ including runner-up finisher Stephanie Su (16:45.36). It was the first time in 2020-21 that UCLA swam the mile.
Grover got under the minute mark in the 100 breast (59.91) to place second and grab a B cut.
Junior Abriana Howard was the Bruins' top finisher in the 200 back at 1:55.57, a B cut time and a new personal best. ย
The next event yielded another B cut for UCLA, as sophomore Sophia Kosturos completed the 100 free in 49.42.
Baron closed out Saturday's individual events with a runner-up finish in the 200 fly, notching her second B cut of the day at 1:58.14.
The Bruins had a strong showing in the 50 free on Sunday, with Grover hitting a B cut at 22.38 and freshmen Nora Clarkowski (23.16) and Maddie Wright (23.29) both notching new best times.
Kosturos landed another runner-up finish for the Bruins in the 100 back, touching the wall in 54.27.
Baron finished a strong weekend with another B cut, swimming the 100 fly in 52.90 to take second place. Sophomore Gabby Dang (53.04) finished right behind her to land a B cut of her own.
The final individual event of the meet brought one more runner-up finish and one more B cut for UCLA, as Kirschke posted a 4:17.22 in the 400 IM.
UCLA's top times in the relays were 1:30.06 in the 200 free (Grover, Brooke Schaffer, Kosturos, Dang), 3:35.28 in the 400 medley (Kosturos, Grover, Dang, Schaffer), 1:39.18 in the 200 medley (Kosturos, Grover, Dang, Schaffer), and 3:20.46 in the 400 free (Rachel Rhee, Schaffer, Clarkowski, Grover). All those times represented season-bests for UCLA.
The Bruins are off next weekend, returning to action on Feb. 12 with a dual meet at USC. That matchup includes platform diving, which will take place the following day on Feb. 13.
Players Mentioned
