2016 Pac-12 Women’s Champs: Day Two Finals Live Recap

PAC-12 – WOMEN

The Pac-12 women will launch into the second day of champs, with USC bringing in the most A finalists of the field. Chelsea Chenault will try to hold on to her top seed in the 500 free, an event in which she’ll find three teammates with her in the A final.

Stanford freshman Ella Eastin blasted a new personal record in the 200 IM, her time of 1:53.33 well ahead of the field and the rest of the country right now. That time also ties her for the 8th-fastest time ever.

Cal got some first seed representation, too, with Farida Osman torching a new best time in the 50 free (21.56). The top three teams, USC, Stanford, and Cal, will distance themselves from the rest of the conference and try to get a leg up on each other in tonight’s finals.

500 FREESTYLE FINALS

  1. Chelsea Chenault (USC), 4:38.13
  2. Bonnie Brandon (ARIZ), 4:41.77
  3. Sammy Harrison (OSU), 4:41.85

USC’s Chenault crowned herself 500 queen tonight, dropped over a second from prelims to pick up the Pac-12 title. Tonight’s win marks the Trojan junior’s first-ever conference title. Bonnie Brandon of Arizona leap-frogged over OSU’s Sammy Harrison for 2nd place, while both swimmers also dropped time from this morning’s session.

The Trojans were relentless in the A final, with freshman Elizabeth Stinson grabbing 4th (4:42.93) and senior Henriette Stenkvist touching just behind in 5th (4:42.98). They also had the 8th-best swim in the championship heat with freshman Allie Wooden‘s 4:46.02.

Stanford’s two finalists, Allison Brown and Leah Stevens, finished 6th (4:43.12) and 7th (4:45.36), respectively.

ASU’s Kat Simonovic swum up from 10th place to earn the B final win with a 4:44.04.

200 IM FINALS

  1. Ella Eastin (STAN), 1:52.77
  2. Kathleen Baker (CAL), 1:52.80
  3. Kirsten Vose (USC), 1:55.65

Stanford frosh Ella Eastin again lowered her personal record tonight, picking up the win for the Cardinal with a time of 1:52.77. She and Cal first year Kathleen Baker were neck and neck the entire race, with Eastin leading at the back to breast turn, then Baker gaining a three-hundredths advantage after breast, then Eastin coming home just a hair faster to take the conference crown. Eastin is the 3rd best 200 IMer now at Stanford, behind only Maya Dirado (1:52.50), and Julia Smit (1:52.31).

Eastin is now the 7th fastest performer ever in this event, exactly one second behind Cal grad Caitlin Leverenz‘s 1:51.77 from 2012. Baker, for her part, is now tied for 8th all-time with her teammate Liz Pelton, who finished that race in 6th place (1:56.19).

USC freshman Kirsten Vose dropped almost two seconds from prelims to move up from 8th to 3rd (1:55.65), while Bears Celina Li (1:55.79) and Kelly Naze (1:55.98) followed closely behind.

Stanford sophomore Ally Howe was next to the wall in 1:56.28, with USC first year Riley Scott finishing up in 8th (1:56.80).

50 FREE FINALS

  1. Farida Osman (CAL), 21.32
  2. Lia Neal (STAN), 21.88
  3. Anika Apostalon (USC), 21.94

Farida Osman has become a serious national title threat for the Cal Bears after a wicked fast 21.32 tonight to win the 50 free. Her time ties Simone Manuel for the 2nd fastest time ever behind only Lara Jackson‘s 21.27 from 2009, which is the NCAA, American, and U.S. Open record. She also set a new Cal record as well as a new Pac-12 Championship record with her performance tonight.

Stanford star Lia Neal touched out Trojan and SDSU transfer Anika Apostalon for silver with a 21.88 to Apostalon’s 21.94. The rest of the field, like this morning, was jam-packed with little separating each of the following positions.

UCLA’s Linnea Mack finished 4th (22.06), followed by a tie for 5th (22.13) between ‘Zona frosh Katrina Konopka and USC senior Katarzyna Wilk. Cal first year Amy Bilquist was a fingernail behind them at 22.14, and Janet Hu, a Stanford sophomore, rounded out the A final with a 22.27.

Golden Bear junior Kristen Vredeveld was the winner of the B final, touching out at 22.30 by a hundredth over ‘Zona’s Taylor Schick (22.31).

3-METER DIVING FINALS

  1. Gracia Leydon-Mahoney (STAN), 379.55
  2. Alex Clay (STAN), 362.95
  3. Madison Will (USC), 344.35
  4. Eloise Belanger (UCLA), 338.95
  5. Mara Aiacoboae (ASU), 317.85
  6. Lilly Hinrichs (STAN), 315.40
  7. Annika Lenz (UCLA), 286.95
  8. Kathryn Loftus (ARIZ), 254.75

After Stanford senior Alex Clay took the top spot in prelims by 14 points over her teammate Gracia Leydon-Mahoney, the sophomore Leydon-Mahoney out-dove Clay in finals to take the Pac-12 title. USC’s Madison Will, a freshman, took 3rd.

200 FREE RELAY FINALS

  1. Cal, 1:26.77
  2. Stanford, 1:27.92
  3. Arizona, 1:28.18

The Cal relay of Osman (21.78), Vredeveld (21.70), Rachel Bootsma (21.83), and Bilquist (21.46) split 21’s across the board for a very dominant win in this relay. This marked the 2nd Pac-12 Championship record for the Bears after Osman’s record in the individual 50 free.

Stanford and Arizona followed with a close finish between the two, but the Cardinal won the battle thanks to their middle legs. Lia Neal split a 21.62 going 2nd, and Ally Howe was a quick 21.58 going third to keep Stanford ahead of the Wildcats.

Arizona had two 21’s of their own, with 2nd leg Annie Ochitwa splitting a 21.88 and Taylor Schick anchoring in 21.72. The Trojans finished up in 4th place at 1:28.57, the last team under 1:30, anchored by a strong 21.57 showing from Katarzyna Wilk.

TEAM SCORES

Stanford’s taken the lead over USC, with Cal in a close third. Things are looking very tight going into day three of this meet. The Cardinal women have picked up big points from their top-end swimmers, but aren’t as deep as Cal and USC. However this year, Stanford’s divers are keeping them afloat even over the historically-powerful USC squad.

  1. Stanford – 557
  2. USC – 512
  3. Cal – 477.5
  4. UCLA – 431
  5. Arizona – 413
  6. Arizona State – 212.5
  7. Utah – 210
  8. Washington State – 168
  9. Oregon State – 155

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bobo gigi
8 years ago

Fina, I don’t know anything about Kirsten Vose. I admit that I had never paid attention to her so far.
You’re right to mention her name.
1.43.20 flat start in the 200 free with a seed times of 59.58 and 2.07.46 on breaststroke, you’re right, it’s not common.
Here’s her bio on the USC website.
http://www.usctrojans.com/sports/w-swim/mtt/kirsten_vose_983580.html
6’1″ She’s tall.
After seeing all of that, I’m almost disappointed by her 1.55 in the 200 IM.
Let’s see her breaststroke now.
Definitely a name to watch in the future.

Cynthia, let’s see next olympic trials. They are better in short course so far. Yes. But it’s still a… Read more »

cynthia curran
8 years ago

Gigi, Baker and Eastin, just wish they were a little faster in Meters.

bobo gigi
8 years ago

Fina Bites, I’ve just found the last 12 yards of the 200 IM plus the podium. 😥
Still better than nothing…. 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2e6O3sQwSbI

fina bites
Reply to  bobo gigi
8 years ago

Thanks Bobo. I was lucky to have today off from work and was able to watch the race on TV, on one of the Pac-12 channels, since I live here in Cali. It was very exciting even though I knew the outcome. Also impressive was 3rd place Vose, 1:55.30 is a decent time, but even more notable is her unusual triple at this meet: 2IM, 2Free (swam 1:43 on relay so far) and 2Breast (seeded 2:07). Can’t remember anyone doing that combo before. Even Eastin couldn’t go that fast in the 2Breast. And the top 3 finishers today all freshmen!!

Eastin will definitely be under 4:00, btw, if not here then at NC2A. She looked very strong.

Worrisome… Read more »

bobo gigi
8 years ago

I don’t know what happened! My name has disappeared!
You can delete the 2 previous comments.

Impressive 21.32 by Farida Osman. Hopefully she was still not at 100% this week and can still improve a little bit that time at NCAAs so that someone finally breaks that NCAA record made in magical suits by a “suit swimmer”. Nothing against Jackson (SCY 50 free), Staab (SCY 100 fly) or Walters (LCM 100 free) but I prefer when the records are held by the best swimmers.
Farida, break that record before Simone and Abbey swim under 21 in 2 or 3 years! 🙂
And Calswimfan, on paper her individual swim means a possible relay split about 20.70/20.80.

That 200… Read more »

fina bitES
8 years ago

I’d love to see a video of the 2IM, that race between Eastin and Baker was epic!!

Spieker Backer
8 years ago

“USC and Stanford are nearly dead even after tonight’s session, with Cal in a close third. Things are looking very tight going into day three of this meet.”

Just wanted to note that the scoring after the diving appears to be the correct one as event #13 falls after event #7 (relay):

Women – Team Rankings – Through Event 13

1. Stanford University 557 2. University of Southern Calif 512
3. University of California, Berk 477.5 4. University of California – LA 431
5. Arizona, University of 413 6. Arizona State University 212.5
7. Utah, University of 210 8. Washington State University 168
9. Oregon State University 155

ALEXANDER POP-OFF
8 years ago

Someone made a great comment about how the regional meets and the NCAA’s will be all about swimmers who aren’t “big names” stepping up big-time. So said so done. So excited for Farida Osman– she clearly has put in the serious work and she always steps up for her team. I would love to see her win NCAAs and break Lara Jackson’s tough 50 Free record.

Ally Howe, Ella Eastin, Kathleen Baker and others all stepping up.

We also can’t ignore Kristin Vredeveld’s 21.70 split– this is big for CAL and for her!

calswimfan
8 years ago

Can Farida split under 21 tonight??

About Karl Ortegon

Karl Ortegon

Karl Ortegon studied sociology at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT, graduating in May of 2018. He began swimming on a club team in first grade and swam four years for Wesleyan.

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