STANFORD vs USC (WOMEN’S DUAL)
- Saturday, January 28, 2023
- Avery Aquatic Center, Stanford, CA
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results
TEAM SCORES
- Stanford – 175
- USC – 123
Stanford hosted USC on Saturday for a Pac-12 women’s dual meet. The Cardinal won their penultimate dual meet of the season convincingly, outscoring the Trojans 175-123.
Perhaps the highlight of the meet, Stanford closed things out with a decisive victory in the 400 free relay. Claire Curzan (48.66), Torri Huske (48.41), Amy Tang (48.75), and Taylor Ruck (49.33) teamed up for a 3:15.15, beating USC’s ‘A’ relay by over nine seconds. In addition to Stanford’s ‘A’ relay’s performance, the ‘B’ relay clocked a 3:19.10 but swam exhibition (not for points). Emma Wheal, Janelle Rudolph, and Lillie Nordmann all split under 50 seconds on that relay, going 49.16, 49.45, and 49.53 respectively.
In addition to their performances on the free relay, Torri Huske and Claire Curzan were fantastic for Stanford throughout the meet. The dynamic sprint duo went 1-2 in the 100 fly, where Huske won with a 50.99. Curzan was right behind her, finishing second in 51.15. As she usually does, Huske got out to the early lead, splitting a sizzling 23.47 on the first 50. Curzan then closed the gap on the second 50, but ultimately ran out a room to run her teammate down.
Huske also won the 200 free early in the meet, swimming a 1:46.30. Stanford had a great showing in the event, with Taylor Ruck finishing second in 1:47.77, Lillie Nordmann taking third in 1:48.15, and Morgan Tankersley touching fourth with a 1:48.53 but swimming exhibition.
Curzan won the 100 back, where she posted a 51.51 to touch first by well over two seconds.
In addition to swimming on the winning 400 free relay, Stanford’s Amy Tang won the 100 free individually with a 49.85. Emma Wheal, who was on the ‘B’ Stanford 400 free relay, was the 50 free champion, clocking a 22.95.
Aurora Roghair was another double event winner for Stanford, sweeping the distance events. In the 1000 free, Roghair swam a 9:53.66 to win the race convincingly. Interestingly, USC’s Justina Kozan, who we don’t see race distance events that often, came in second with a 10:01.03.
Roghair would go on to win the 500 free in a thrilling race with teammate Kayla Wilson. We don’t have all the splits from the race, but it looks like Roghair held a lead of roughly one seconds over Wilson for the vast majority of the race, then Wilson came roaring home in 27.27 on the final 50, which was nearly a second faster than Roghair’s 28.13. Roghair still got her hand on the wall first, touching in 4:48.10, 0.52 seconds ahead of Wilson’s 4:48.62.
Charlotte Hook put on a show in the 200 fly, speeding to a 1:56.84 to win by a little over a second. Teammate Lucy Bell held a very slim lead over Hook at the 100-mark, but Hook pulled ahead of her on the final 100 of the race. Bell ended up finishing second in 1:57.98. Notably, both Hook and Bell are freshman.
Bell would go on to win the 200 IM in 1:59.80, touching out USC’s Isabelle Odgers (1:58.84). It was a thriller of a race, with Odgers leading Bell by just 0.01 seconds at the 100 turn, 57.55 to 57.56. She then inched a little bit further ahead on breaststroke, splitting 33.99, 0.30 seconds faster than Bell’s 34.29. Bell had the closing speed to get the job done, however, splitting 27.95 on the final 50, which was just enough to overtake Odgers at the finish.
Odgers won the 200 breast earlier in the meet, swimming a 2:11.46. She put together a well-split race, going 30.88 on the first 50, then tacking on splits of 33.19, 33.70, and 33.69 respectively on the remaining three 50s.
USC star Kaitlyn Dobler won the 100 breast decisively, speeding to a 1:00.77. She established a huge lead on the first 50, where she split 28.49.
Stanford’s Alexandra Crisera won the 200 back in 1:56.84.
There was a rare tie in 1-meter diving, where USC teammates Nike Agunbiade and Carolina Sculti both scored 307.40 points. In 3-meter diving, the results were very different. There, Sculti won by a very wide margin, racking up a score of 342.25.
TORRI HUSKE!!