Jan. 28, 2005
Stanford, Calif. - No. 5 Stanford (5-1, 3-0 Pac-10) rolled to its fourth straight dual meet win with a 176-124 victory over No. 11 UCLA (5-2, 2-2 Pac-10) in a short-course yards Pac-10 dual meet on Friday at the Avery Aquatic Center. UCLA won the first three events of the meet before the Cardinal came storming back to win 11 of the final 13. Caroline Bruce continued her outstanding freshman season by winning three races (100 breast, 200 breast, 200 IM). Bruce's NCAA "A" qualifying time of 1:01.24 in the 100 breast was the fourth fastest in the nation this season and makes her Stanford's No. 3 all-time performer in the event.
"We had some people step up and swim really well today, including the obvious performance by Caroline Bruce to continue her outstanding freshman season," said Stanford head coach Richard Quick. "She swam an outstanding 100 breaststroke today, and I'm just really pleased with her progress."
Bruce also had an NCAA "A" time of 2:12.04 in her 200 breast win, as well as an NCAA "B" mark of 2:02.20 in her 200 IM victory.
Brooke Bishop (100 back, 200 back), Lacey Boutwell (50 free, 100 free) and Ashlee Rosenthal (1-meter diving, 3-meter diving) added two individual wins each for the Cardinal, while Elizabeth Durot picked up a victory in the 500 free. A Cardinal relay team of Boutwell, Bishop, Sarah Jones and Desiree Stahley was also victorious in the 200 free relay to conclude the meet.
Stanford trailed by 19 points (37-18) after UCLA's three victories to open the meet and still trailed until results of the eighth event (1-meter diving) put the Cardinal in front for the first time in the meet, 78-72. Stanford then took the top three spots in the next event (100 free) to break the meet open and never looked back.
Bishop swept the backstroke events in a collegiate meet for the first time in her career and had NCAA "B" times in both the 100 (55.30) and 200 (2:01.30), edging her closest competitor by .20 seconds on each occasion. Boutwell also had NCAA "B" marks in both her 50 (23.53) and 100 (50.72) free victories, recording a season-best in the 50.
Rosenthal's 315.30 points in her 3-meter victory were a career-best in dual meet competition, while she scored 255.75 points in her 1-meter diving win.
Durot's time of 4:49.32 to win the 500 free was also an NCAA "B" performance, while she added another with her second-place finish in the 200 free (1:49.93). Dana Kirk also had a pair of NCAA "B" times for the Cardinal in second-place showings in both the 100 (55.02) and 200 (2:00.54) fly. Kristen Caverly (200 back, 2:01.51), Erica Liu (100 free, 51.05) and Morgan Hentzen (500 free, 4:49.36) all recorded NCAA "B" marks that were also season-bests as all three took second in their respective events.
Stanford's winning time in the 200 free relay was 1:35.30.
"We're gaining momentum in our regular season as we build towards the postseason," summarized Quick.
UCLA's Kim Vandenberg equaled Bruce's three individual victories with wins in the 200 free (1:58.57), 100 fly (54.80) and 200 fly (1:58.57), all in NCAA "B" times. Jane Imagane of the Bruins was the other individual event winner, taking the 1000 free in 9:51.63. UCLA's other victory came in the meet-opening 200 medley relay (1:43.07) with a team of Katie Arnold, Eileen Seissen, Vandenberg and Amy Thurman.
Stanford concludes its 2004-05 home schedule by welcoming No. 18 USC (1-3-1, 0-2-1 Pac-10) for Senior Day on Saturday, January 29 (12:00 pm, PT). A total of nine Stanford women's swimmers and divers will be honored in a ceremony prior to the meet. The Women of Troy was a 175.5-124.5 loser at No. 10 California on Friday.
Stanford was a 173-127 winner at USC the last time the teams met (January 31, 2004) and came up with a 167-133 in the most recent contest between the squads at the Avery Aquatic Center (February 1, 2003).