2019 Pac-12 Women’s Championships: Day 4 Finals Live Recap

2019 PAC-12 WOMEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

The Stanford women continue to have a substantial lead over Cal in the team scores. The 200 back finalists reflect the extension of that lead with the top 4 all Cardinals, with Taylor Ruck leading the way.

On the flip side, the top 3 in the 100 free are all Cal Bears, with Abbey Weitzeil potentially looking to take down another record after taking the NCAA record in the 50 free on Thursday.

Also coming off an NCAA record is USC’s Louise Hansson, who swam the fastest 100 fly on Friday. Hansson comes in as the top seed in the 200 fly.

WOMEN’S 1650 FREE:

  • Pac-12 Record: 15:03.31 2016, Katie Ledecky, 2016
  • Championship Record: 15:40.17, 2015 Cierra Runge, 2015
  • Estimated NCAA Invite Time: 16:12.64
  1. Leah Stevens (Stanford)- 15:51.26
  2. Cierra Runge (ASU)- 15:51.72
  3. Morgan Tankersley (Stanford)- 15:59.98

Taking the mile title from the earlier heats was Stanford’s Leah Stevens, who took the win by half a second over Cierra Runge, who swam later. Stevens and Runge are #4 and #5 in the NCAA this year.

Taking third in the event was Morgan Tankersley, who just broke 16 minutes for #12 in the NCAA.

WOMEN’S 200 BACK:

  • Pac-12 record: 1:47.30, Kathleen Baker, 2018
  • Championship record: 1:48.27, Kathleen Baker, 2018
  • Estimated NCAA Invite Time: 1:53.64
  1. Ella Eastin (Stanford)- 1:48.53
  2. Taylor Ruck (Stanford)- 1:48.67
  3. Lucie Nordmann (Stanford)- 1:51.34

In a come-from-behind victory off the last underwater of the race, Ella Eastin secured her 3rd title of the meet in the 200 back over teammate Olympic bronze medalist Taylor Ruck. Eastin’s finishing time now ranks #10 all-time in the NCAA. For the 2019 season, Eastin and Ruck are #2 and #3 in the NCAA.

Taking third and fourth place for a Stanford 1-2-3-4 finish was freshman Lucie Nordmann and junior Erin Voss (1:51.43). Nordmann and Voss are also #6 and #8 in the NCAA this year.

WOMEN’S 100 FREE:

  1. Abbey Weitzeil (Cal)- 46.35
  2. Amy Bilquist (Cal)- 47.01
  3. Robin Neumann (Cal)- 47.78

Cal followed up Stanford’s 200 back finishings with a 1-2-3 finish of their own in the 100 free. Abbey Weitzeil secured her sprint sweep with a new Pac-12 championship record of 46.35, which is now the top time in the NCAA this year.

Taking second and third place were teammates Amy Bilquist and Robin Neumann, who are now #5 and #16 in the NCAA this year.

WOMEN’S 200 BREAST:

  • Pac-12 record: 2:04.75, Rebecca Soni, 2009
  • Championship record: 2:04.75, Rebecca Soni, 2009
  • Estimated NCAA Invite Time: 2:10.14
  1. Grace Zhao (Stanford)- 2:07.07
  2. Riley Scott (USC)- 2:07.78
  3. Silja Kansakoski (ASU)- 2:08.01

Grace Zhao pulled away from the field for the Cardinals continued dominance with a 2:07.07, holding off USC’s Riley Scott‘s 32.94 final 50 split. Zhao’s time is now #5 in the NCAA while Scott is #11 in the NCAA.

Taking third place was Arizona State’s Silja Kansakoski, who also held off Stanford’s Allie Raab (2:08.11) and Zoe Bartel (2:08.93).

WOMEN’S 200 FLY:

  • Pac-12 record: 1:49.51, Ella Eastin, 2018
  • Championship record: 1:49.51, Ella Eastin, 2018
  • Estimated NCAA Invite Time: 1:55.99
  1. Louise Hansson (USC)- 1:50.68
  2. Katie Drabot (Stanford)- 1:51.42
  3. Madison Wright (USC)- 1:53.31

Louise Hansson swept the fly events with her second top time in the NCAA, this time in the 200 fly. Stanford’s Katie Drabot was runner-up in the event to also take second in the NCAA behind Hansson.

USC Trojan Madison Wright took third place to stay ahead of Stanford’s Brooke Forde (1:53.67). Wright and Forde are now #7 and #11 in the NCAA this year.

WOMEN’S PLATFORM DIVING:

  • Pac-12 Record: 368.75, Haley Ishimatsu, 2015
  • Championship Record: 368.75, Haley Ishimatsu, 2015
  1. Mia Paulsen (Stanford)- 256.30
  2. Naomi Gowlett (USC)- 252.30
  3. Darla Lenz (Stanford)- 242.20

After just sneaking into the top 8 in prelims, Stanford’s Mia Paulsen walked away with a platform diving title by a narrow 4 points over USC’s Naomi Gowlett. Stanford teammate Darla Lenz also took top three in the platform diving.

WOMEN’S 400 FREE RELAY:

  • Pac-12 Record: 3:07.61, Stanford (S. Manuel, K. Ledecky, J. Hu, L. Neal), 2017
  • Championship Record: 3:08.51, Stanford (S. Manuel, K. Ledecky, J. Hu, L. Neal), 2017
  1. Cal (Neumann, McLaughlin, Bilquist, Weitzeil)- 3:07.41
  2. Stanford (Ruck, Pitzer, Goeders, Eastin)- 3:10.43
  3. USC (Hansson, Schlicht, Transom, Ciesla)- 3:13.10

Before getting to Cal’s final time, Taylor Ruck led off Stanford’s relay with a 46.76. That lead-off time from Ruck is now #5 in the NCAA this year as well as tied for #9 on the all-time NCAA performers list.

After Robin Neumann‘s 48.17 lead-off, Cal immediately caught up with a trio of 46s from Katie McLaughlin (46.55), Amy Bilquist (46.30), and Abbey Weitzeil (46.39). Cal’s final time of 3:07.41 not only set a new Pac-12 conference and meet record, but also eclipsed the NCAA record (which was the same as the Pac-12 record).

FINAL RESULTS:

The Stanford Cardinals secured their 3rd-consecutive Pac-12 title by a substantial lead.

1. Stanford           1775   
2. Cal-Berkeley       1352
3. USC                1183.5   
4. Arizona State      932.5
5. Arizona            837   
6. UCLA               835
7. Utah               531.5   
8. Washington State   284.5
9. Oregon State       172

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Samuel Huntington
5 years ago

Hansson is now #5 all time in the 200 fly, I believe

hambone
5 years ago

Interesting that all those Teri McKeever critics have been awfully quiet lately.

CraigH
Reply to  hambone
5 years ago

Just wait until the all swim about the same time in three weeks and everyone talks about how they missed their taper.

break it down
Reply to  CraigH
5 years ago

Wow…all right, then: noted and logged! I hope you’re around in three weeks to EAT CROW, son!

Eric Rhodes
5 years ago

Cal’s Robin Neumann is from the Netherlands; probably not an “American” record… maybe a “US Open” & NCAA ?

Coach Mike 1952
Reply to  Eric Rhodes
5 years ago

Rich Burke the announcer (for those of us who actually *could* see the meet), was a bit pathetic. He declared Louise Hansson’s 100 fly an American record, & then said that Ella’s 200 back was 2 1/2 seconds off her best, when in fact it WAS her best by 2.5 seconds. Reminds me of that one BAD announcer from the meet a while back who got almost nothing right; he botched names, times, swimmers, everything. Remember anyone?

COFLO
Reply to  Coach Mike 1952
5 years ago

I thought the same thing…he even said Taylor was winning the 200 back when you could actually see Eastin moving on her in that last 25….so bad.

longseekeer
Reply to  Eric Rhodes
5 years ago

Neumann has been a great addition for Cal. Can you imagine if Kathleen Baker had stayed for her last year at Cal the 400 relay time may have been around 3:05!! But American or no American record , the 3:07 is remarkable and I hope Cal can maybe best the time at NCAAs.

Samuel Huntington
Reply to  longseekeer
5 years ago

Baker would not have been much faster than Neumann, certainly not 2 seconds

Frank
5 years ago

Nice lead off from Ruck in that last relay. Her time would have broken up Cal’s podium sweep in tonight’s 100 Free.

ALEXANDER POP-OFF
5 years ago

Bilquist–>McLauglin–>Neumann–>Weitzeil = 3:08?

ALEXANDER POP-OFF
Reply to  ALEXANDER POP-OFF
5 years ago

OMG I WAS TOO CONSERVATIVE! NCAA RECORD! 3:07:41! These ladies don’t have time for jokes!!!!!!

hint of lime
Reply to  ALEXANDER POP-OFF
5 years ago

New record!!! Impressive sweep of all of the relays for the Bears!

PK Doesn’t Like His Long Name
Reply to  hint of lime
5 years ago

Stanford could be like Texas Men last year and win the NCAA title without winning any relays.

Cal’s sprinters were on point from the 200 on down.

Bob
Reply to  PK Doesn’t Like His Long Name
5 years ago

They should win the 800 relay I think. Cal edged them by a second here but I still favour them. Ruck led off in 1:42.8 here but got better as the meet went along I’d be very surprised if she couldn’t be atleast a second faster, Eastin should drop from her 1:42, Forde was 1:41, and Drabot was 1:44 so certainly room to drop there.

ALEXANDER POP-OFF
Reply to  Bob
5 years ago

Great observations, Bob. You’re right, Stanford is favored. But I think Cal will be tough. They also have room to drop and I think a lot will depend on how much Izzy Ivey can drop.

CraigH
Reply to  Bob
5 years ago

Yea, most of the Stanford top swimmers trained right up until this meet started. You could see them getting better as the meet wore on and they started to get some rest.

Ed Brennan
Reply to  Bob
5 years ago

Stanford might want to take a look a TANKERSLEY in the 800 FR !

anonymous
5 years ago

Eastin has always had a good backstroke. She usually gets ahead in the Im’s from the back.

Bob
Reply to  anonymous
5 years ago

Eastin has always had a good everything. Excited to see what she does at NCAAs.

dave
5 years ago

I hope that the NCAA will allow a live stream of their Championship meet. The PAC-12, blackout to most of the Nation of this event, is shameful IMHO. Hard to be a swim fan, and support your team without the ability to see the Championship meets.

ALEXANDER POP-OFF
Reply to  dave
5 years ago

Totally agree. It is as though the sport wants to marginalize itself. Sad.

Student
Reply to  dave
5 years ago

About Nick Pecoraro

Nick Pecoraro

Nick has had the passion for swimming since his first dive in the water in middle school, immediately falling for breaststroke. Nick had expanded to IM events in his late teens, helping foster a short, but memorable NCAA Div III swim experience at Calvin University. While working on his B.A. …

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