The final session of the 2015 A3 Performance Invitational, hosted by UC San Diego at East Los Angeles College, began with a bang when UCLA’s Madison White broke the pool record in the 200 back with 1:54.70. Ugne Mazutaityte of Fresno State was second with 1:57.00; Mazutaityte slipped past San Jose State’s Colleen Humel (1:57.53) over the last 50 yards.
UCLA freshman Emma Schanz also broke a pool record in the 200 breast; she took nearly 5 seconds off her prelims time and clocked a 2:12.55 to win the event by 3 seconds.
The Bruins went on to win every event on Saturday, with the exception of the 200 fly where former Bruin Noelle Tarazona eclipsed Katie Grover, 1:56.64 to 1:57.25, while teammates Arlyn Upshaw (1:58.67) and White (1:59.65) completed the Bruin 2-through-4 sweep. Freshman Sandra Soe led the field by 25 yards when she came to the wall in 16:25.06 to claim the 1650 title over San Jose State’s Riley Spitser. Freshman Caroline McTaggart and junior Linnea Mack finished 1-2 in the 100 free, at 49.37 and 50.06, respectively. Julia Mikota of Santa Barbara was third in 51.11.
Finally, UCLA’s White (50.66), Grover (50.58), Mack (49.54), and McTaggart (49.34) closed out the meet with a 3:20.12 victory in the women’s 400 free relay.
Final scores – women’s meet
- UCLA 1295
- UC Santa Barbara 914.5
- University of the Pacific 724.5
- San Jose State 688.5
- UC San Diego 675.5
Stanford won every event on the men’s side of the meet. Sophomore Patrick Conaton, led teammates Ryan Arata and Curtis Ogren in a 1-2-3 sweep of the 200 back. Conaton knocked two seconds off his qualifying time to win with 1:43.26; Arata (1:45.74) and Ogren (1:46.44) followed closely behind. Sophomore Sam Perry then cranked out a 43.21 to earn the 100 free crown; teammate Spencer DeShon was runner-up with 44.07. Hawaii’s Yuri Samouilich kept the rest of the Stanford contingent at bay, finishing third with 44.56.
Freshman Liam Egan beat out senior Danny Thomson for the title in the 1650 free, 15:05.31 to 15:12.86. Santa Barbara freshman Bobby Guerra came from behind to rob Stanford of a sweep in the mile; he finished third in 15:28.97. Stanford freshman Matt Anderson was once again the only sub-2:00 200 breaststroker, winning with 1:58.42 ahead of Zach Yong of UC San Diego (2:00.01) and Simon Wong of UC Santa Barbara (2:01.51).
In the 200 fly, Stanford’s Umbach edged Black, 1:44.32 to 1:44.92, for the win; teammate Jimmy Yoder rounded out the podium with 1:45.64. Zach Cootes of Cal Poly came with 1/100 of preventing a 1-through-4 Cardinal sweep; he lost to Stanford freshman Andrew Liang 1:48.00 to 1:48.01 and had to settle for fifth.
Final scores – men’s meet
- Stanford University 2016
- UC Santa Barbara 1093
- Cal Poly 857
- UC San Diego 813
- University of Hawaii 587
East LA pool is by far the worst facility I have ever swam in– it is a joke that it is filling in for the Belmont facility while it is being rebuilt
“By far the worst facility I have ever swam in” You must truly live a privileged life if that statement is true. Either that or you don’t swim very much.
Both my kids have gotten best times in that pool, including one who just swam there at the A3 Invite, where most of our team got best times. Maybe not the best ever, but it works! You can get best times in old pools and worst times in Nationals-worthy pools. Seemed fine to me as a parent spectator.
What the heck is Stanford doing at the dump called East LA City College? They were the primary antagonists, complaining about the men’s PAC 12 championship meet being held there in 2012.
how is it a dump? Seems like a solid pool
Then why was Stanford complaining so vehemently about it 3 years ago? Why go there again? Budget problems for travel? This is not a major invitational in the scheme of collegiate Div 1 swimming.
Perhaps Stanford with their large endowment and beautiful facilities could host their own invitational, then they could invite foes worthy of competing to come swim in a pool worthy of their elite bodies. Instead they have chosen to slum it in an unworthy pool with unworthy opponents. For shame! Lets hope they have some sort of purification ritual that will cleanse them of all remnants of this shameful weekend