Claire Grover Takes 2 Events As UCLA Downs ASU In Conference Dual

UCLA vs Arizona State

• Saturday, November 3rd
• Spieker Aquatics Center, Los Angeles, CA
• Short Course Yards
• Results

TEAM SCORES

1. UCLA – 160
2. ASU – 140

UCLA handled Arizona State in a Pac-12 dual meet on Saturday, November 3rd. The Bruins took 11 of 16 events, inlcuding both relays and a sweep of the diving events. UCLA freshman Claire Grover was instrumental for the Bruins, clocking 2 individual event wins and helping 2 relays to victory. Grover swam a season best 1:02.90 to claim vioctory in the 100 breast. Grover then won the 100 free with a 50.50. Grover was 6th at the 50 mark (25.18), but roared home in 25.32, nearly negative splitting the race. Grover also split 1:01.67 on the breast split of the 400 medley relay, marking the fastest breast split in the field. She then capped off her meet by leading off the 200 free relay in 23.21.

Chloe Isleta led the charge for the ASU, taking home wins in the 100 back, 200 back, and 200 IM. In the 100 back Isleta posted a season best time of 54.40, clocking the 5th fastest time in the conference this season. She followed it up with her 2nd best time in the 200 back this season – 1:58.87. She took the 200 out in a quick 57.68. Isleta then went on to win the 200 IM, posting a 2:03.10. She took the IM out in 57.25, the fastest 1st 100 in the field by far.

Amy Okada swept the fly events for UCLA, posting season bests in both events. In the 100, Okada swam a 55.14, marking the 14th fastest 100 fly in the conference this Fall. She then posted a 2:00.65 in the 200 fly, knocking a second off her season best and coming in 10th in the conference. Maria Polyakova (UCLA) dominated the diving events. She took the 1 meter by nearly 65 points, posting a score of 355.50, while she took the 3 meter by 8 points with a score of 339.75.

OTHER EVENT WINNERS

• 500 free: Sandra Soe (UCLA) – 4:56.46
• 200 free: Erica Laning (ASU) – 1:50.95
• 1000 free: Sandra Soe (UCLA) – 10:05.98
• 50 free: Maisie Jameson (UCLA) – 23.60
• 200 breast: Nora Deleske (ASU) – 2:17.83

PRESS RELEASE – UCLA:

LOS ANGELES – The UCLA swimming and diving team wrapped up a successful weekend by topping Arizona State 160-140 on Saturday morning at Spieker Aquatics Center.

Redshirt senior Maria Polyakova had a banner day in the diving part of the competition to lead the Bruins (3-0) to victory. The Moscow, Russia native set new school and Dirks Pool records with a 355.50 score in the 1m, shattering her previous mark of 339.05 by 16.45 points. That result put UCLA over the 150-mark and clinched the win.

Earlier in the day, Polyakova secured a first-place result in the 3m with a season-best score of 339.75.

Senior Traci Shiver also had a strong day on the springboard, setting new PRs in both the 1m (254.10) and 3m (270.23). Freshman Veronica Thompson was the fifth-place finisher in both events, recording scores of 233.18 in the 1m and 239.25 in the 3m.

“That’s about as strong as Maria has performed during her time here,” said UCLA head diving coach Tom Stebbins. “This has been a strong period of work for our team, but we’ve been focusing on being more relaxed and loose, and that showed today.”

In the pool, Amy Okada (100 back, 200 back), Sandra Soe (500 free, 1000 free), and Claire Grover (100 free, 100 breast) all secured multiple event wins. Maisie Jameson (50 free) and Emily Lo (200 breast) both logged their first wins of the year as well.

The Bruins got off to a strong start on Saturday, winning the first two events and placing two of the top three-finishers in the third.

UCLA’s A Team in the 400 medley relay opened the meet with a win, taking first at 3:48.40 and edging out ASU’s top relay by less than a half-second.

Soe followed up with a solid showing in the 1000 free, touching in 10:05.98 and beating the second-place finisher by almost eight seconds.

The 200 free was a dramatic race, as Kenisha Liu battled for the lead with a trio of Sun Devils over the first half of the race. While Liu (1:51.13) ended up missing out on first by a hair, freshman Delaney Smith surged over the final 50 yards to take third place at 1:51.44.

The Bruins went 2-3-4 in the 100 backstroke, with Emma Schanz (56.02), Mara Newman (57.00), and Jennifer Lathrop (57.05) finishing in quick succession.

Claire Grover got UCLA back on track in the 100 breast, taking first place at 1:02.90. It was Grover’s second win in the 100 breast in as many days.

In the 200 fly, Amy Okada continued her dominance with a first-place finish of 2:00.65. She has won the 200 fly in all three of UCLA’s dual meets this season. She finished off a sweep of the fly events later in the morning with a first-place time of 55.14 in the 100 fly. The latter win put the Bruins on the precipice of victory.

Maisie Jameson sent the Bruins into the first break on a positive note, placing first in the 50 free at 23.60 for her first event win of the season. Ella Kirschke also netted key points for the Bruins with a third-place finish at 23.82.

At the first break, UCLA enjoyed an 85-65 advantage over the Sun Devils.

The start of the second half of the day was marked by a strong 100 free for the Bruins, which had three of the top-four finishers including winner Claire Grover (50.50). Liu (51.18) and Kirschke (51.26) had solid showings as well to round out UCLA’s scorers.

The Bruins went 2-3-4 in the 200 back, led by Mara Newman’s 2:01.83 and followed by Jennifer Lathrop (2:02.66) and Delaney Smith (2:02.81).

Emily Lo secured her first career win in the 200 breaststroke, coming in with a time of 2:16.98.

Soe wrapped up a dominant meet with another win in the 500 free, finishing in 4:56.46, the lone swimmer to break the five-minute mark.

UCLA’s A Team concluded the day with a first-place finish of 1:32.32 in the 200 freestyle relay.

UCLA continues its homestand next weekend, hosting UC Santa Barbara and UC San Diego at Spieker on Saturday, Nov. 10. The diving team will go across town for the USC Diving Invitational from Friday, Nov. 9 to Sunday, Nov. 11.

PRESS RELEASE – ASU:

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Chloe Isleta notched three wins in three individual events, including sweeping the backstroke for the third time this season, and Erica Laning contributed her third 200 freestyle victory of the season on Saturday morning at UCLA.

The Sun Devils (1-3) swept two events (200BR, 200IM) in the meet and notched victories in five in the 160-140 loss against the Bruins.

Nora Deleske (2:17.83) touched the wall first in 200 breast, followed by Marlies Ross (2:17.93) and Silja Kansakoski (2:18.73) to claim the top three spots. Isleta (2:03.10), Ross (2:04.04) and Deleske (2:04.09) did the same in the 200 IM.

Isleta once again swept the backstroke events, which she has done in all but one of the Sun Devils’ meets this season. The California native raced to a first place finish in the 100 and 200 back, and added a win in the 200 IM to cap off an impressive day for the junior.

In the diving well, Ashley McCool and Frida Kaellgren combined to put points on the board for the Sun Devils, with McCool placing second in both the 1M and 3M, while Kaellgren placed third in both events. McCool was just eight points behind Maria Polyakova in the 3M springboard, who won that event en route to being named Pac-12 Diver of the year in 2016-17.

Freshman Ruby Martin continued her dominance in the butterfly stroke against the Bruins, swimming to a second-place finish in the 200 fly and third in the 100 fly. Martin has had a podium finish in five of her seven races in the butterfly.

The Sun Devils take two weeks off to train and are back in action on Nov. 14 and 15. The swim and dive squads will part ways, as diving heads to the Texas Diving Invitational while the swimmers head to the Indiana Invitational. Fans can keep up with the action all season long by following @ASUSwimDive on Twitter.

Wins:
Erica Laning (200 free)
Chloe Isleta (100 back, 200 back, 200 IM)
Nora Deleske (200 breast)

Sweeps:
200 breast (Deleske, Ross, Kansakoski)
200 IM (Isleta, Ross, Deleske)