Jan. 22, 2005
Tucson, Ariz. - No. 8 Stanford (4-1, 2-0 Pac-10) knocked off previously unbeaten and No. 4 Arizona (7-1, 5-1 Pac-10) in a short-course yards Pac-10 dual meet on Saturday at the Hillenbrand Aquatic Center. Stanford used its superior depth to outscore the Wildcats, 165-135, despite both teams winning eight events. Kristen Caverly (100 and 200 breast) and Dana Kirk (100 and 200 fly) won two events each to lead the Cardinal. Caroline Bruce (200 IM), Lauren Costella (1000 free) and Ashlee Rosenthal (1-meter diving) also had victories in individual events for Stanford, while a Cardinal relay team of Brooke Bishop, Bruce, Kirk and Lacey Boutwell won the 400 medley relay to open the event.
"This was a great team effort to give us a tough win over a very good Arizona team," said Stanford head coach Richard Quick.
Stanford dominated in the breaststroke events, outscoring the Wildcats by a combined count of 32-6 in the two events despite not using its top breaststroker Bruce in either. Caverly swept the 100 and 200 breast in NCAA "B" times of 1:02.70 and 2:14.89 the first time she swam both events this season. Her sweep not only gave the Cardinal a pair of individual victories but also allowed Bruce to swim the 100 and 200 back, where she finished third in both events to help the Cardinal counter a Wildcat advantage. Erica Liu (1:04.29) and Katherine Bell (1:04.36) supported Caverly with second and third-place finishes in the 100, while Bell (2:20.31) and Kirsten Gilbert were second and third for the Cardinal in the 200.
"Kristen Caverly's performance in the breaststroke events were so important to our victory today," emphasized Quick. "She allowed us to still dominate the breaststroke while being able to use Caroline Bruce where we needed her in the backstroke."
Stanford's 400 medley relay team started the day with a dominating win, recording an NCAA "B" mark of 3:42.03 and finishing 3.93 seconds ahead of the second-place Wildcat squad. The time recorded by the Stanford quartet was a season-best by a Cardinal 400 medley relay squad.
"I really do think that our 400 medley relay team set the tone for the day," said Quick. "They got us off to a good start, and we just went from there."
Lauren Costella followed the Cardinal medley relay squad with a victory in the 1000 free in a season-best time of 9:52.64 with a second-place finish by Desiree Stahley (9:56.13) giving the Cardinal a 1-2 finish in the event.
After victories by Arizona's Lacey Nymeyer in the 200 free (1:49.53) and Jenna Gresdal (54.56) in the 100 back in NCAA "B" times, Caverly stopped the Wildcat momentum with her win in the 100 breast before Kirk came up with a season-best and NCAA "B" time of 1:58.60 to win the 200 fly.
Arizona would come back to win four of the next five events. Gresdal led off the run with a 50 free victory in 23.71 and Nymeyer won the 100 free in 50.73, both NCAA "B" marks. Jessica Hayes made its three in a row for the Wildcats with a win in the 200 back in 1:59.55 and Gresdal was second in 2:00.27, also both NCAA "B" times. Caverly's 200 breast win slowed the run before Emily Mason took the 500 free in an NCAA "B" time of 4:49.85.
Despite the run, Stanford's depth allowed the Wildcats to gain just 11 points on the Cardinal over the five events as Arizona never got closer than 17 points after the Cardinal had taken dominating 70-42 lead heading into the stretch.
Stanford secured its win with back-to-back victories by Kirk (100 fly, 55.02) and Bruce (200 IM, 2:02.21), both in NCAA "B" times, before an Arizona team of Courtney Cashion, Hayes, Nymeyer and Marshi Smith finished the meet with a victory in the 400 free relay in an NCAA "B" time of 3:24.53.
Rosenthal scored 267.60 points in her 1-meter diving win, while Arizona's Claire Febvay was the winner in the 3-meter competition with 277.58 points.
There were no NCAA "A" qualifying times recorded by either team in the event.
Others to record NCAA "B" marks for the Cardinal were Boutwell in the 100 (51.07) and 200 (1:49.86) free, as well as Elizabeth Durot in the 200 free (season-best 1:50.26) and Desiree Stahley in the 500 free (season-best 4:50.74).
Stanford next returns to the Avery Aquatic Center to host No. 11 UCLA (5-1, 2-1 Pac-10) on Friday, January 28 (1:00 pm, PT) in its first Pac-10 home meet before concluding a brief 2004-05 home schedule by welcoming No. 18 USC (1-2-1, 0-1-1 Pac-10) for Senior Day on Saturday, January 29 (12:00 pm, PT).
Stanford will be looking to avenge a crushing 151-92 defeat at the hands of the Bruins when they met in Los Angeles last season (January 30, 2004), marking only the second time in 24 career meeting between the schools that Stanford had lost to UCLA. The Cardinal responded with a 173-127 victory at USC the following day (January 31, 2004). Stanford swept the two schools the last time they met at the Avery Aquatic Center with a 159-141 win over UCLA (January 31, 2003) and a 167-133 win against USC (February 1, 2003).