Oct. 29, 2005
Stanford, Calif. - No. 4 Stanford (2-0) finished off an impressive 192-156 victory over No. 7 Texas (0-1-1) on Saturday at the Avery Aquatic Center. Brooke Bishop posted six victories (four individual, two relays) during the two-day meet and was also a member of an exhibition Stanford squad in the 400 free relay that had the fastest time in the event. Bishop added wins Saturday with NCAA "B" times in the 50 free (23.04) and 100 back (54.51) to her four victories from Friday.
"Texas is a really good team," said Stanford head coach Lea Maurer.
"By beating Texas people will know that Stanford is also a really good team. We want to exceed our expectations in the past. This was a good test of our mental tenacity and our ability to step up, and I think we did that well."
"Brooke Bishop was rock solid," Maurer offered on her six-time winner. "She was showing people we can do it and are going to do it. It raised everyone's expectations."
Head coach Lea Maurer directed Stanford to a 192-156 win over perennial national power Texas |
"This win proved a lot to us," added Bishop. "Everyone now realizes we can compete at the top level. It opened eyes for everyone."
Dana Kirk (200 fly, 2:00.52) and Lauren Costella (1650 free, 16:34.16) were also individual winners for the Cardinal on Saturday with both picking up NCAA "B" marks.
Texas notched swimming wins from Kristin Siminski (200 free, 1:50.94), Elizabeth Tinnon (100 breast, 1:02.32), Elizabeth Wycliffe (200 IM, 2:04.52), while diver Kathryn Kelly completed a sweep of the meet's diving events with a victory in the 1-meter competition (266.85).
The Longhorns also won the 200 medley relay to open the day with a team of Wycliffe, Tinnon, Katie Robinson and Hee-Jin Chang clocking in with a time of 1:43.05 to beat Stanford's top team by .06 seconds. With the Cardinal swimming exhibition in the meet's last two events, Texas was also awarded the victory in the 400 free relay to close the meet with Chang, Robinson, Jaclyn Faulkner and Siminski recording a time of 3:26.19. Stanford's exhibition team of Bishop, Desiree Stahley, Erica Liu and Madeline Rovira had the event's fastest time with a mark of 3:25.37.
Other notable performances for Stanford included NCAA "B" times of 16:38.09 and 16:43.21 by Stahley and Morgan Hentzen, respectively, to finish second and third behind Costella's victory in the 1650 free. Kristen Caverly (1:03.64) and Erica Liu (1:03.73) also had NCAA "B" times while finishing second and third in the 100 breast.
Texas' Stephanie Anderson also picked up a "B" time in the event with her 16:48.31 to finish fourth.
Stanford set the tone Friday for the two-day event by breaking the pool record in the meet-opening 200 free relay and never looked back after a team of Rovira, Stahley, Liu and Bishop covered the race in an NCAA "B" time of 1:33.55. The Cardinal wound up winning all eight of the swimming events on the first day of action.
Bishop led the way Friday by taking the 200 back in an NCAA "A" time of 1:56.75 that tied her for fifth on Stanford's list of all-time performers in the event and smashed her personal previous career-best (1:59.20). She put together the performance just after winning the previous event when she captured the 100 free with an NCAA "B" mark of 50.22.
"Brooke Bishop is a tremendous leader both in and out of the pool," commented Stanford head coach Lea Maurer after Friday's double by Bishop. "I was happy to see her celebrate both of her individual back-to-back wins. That should send a message to her that she is in great shape and is a great swimmer."
"The first three events of a meet can set the tone," continued Maurer. "We responded aggressively at the start and then stayed focused. We raced with a little more confidence today, and I hope this performance can be a good stepping stone."
Kristen Caverly was a winner in her first action of the season, taking the 200 breast in 2:14.96 as part of a group of four swimmers that set NCAA "B" marks. Liu had a stellar performance to finish second in 2:15.90, followed by Elizabeth Tinnon (2:16.34) and Alexandra Spann (2:16.58) of Texas.
Laura Davis (400 IM, 4:19.61), Kirk (100 fly, 54.19) and Hentzen (500 free, 4:50.10) also contributed individual event wins Friday in NCAA "B" times for the Cardinal.
Bishop added her fourth victory on the first day of action by swimming the leadoff leg of Stanford's winning 400 medley relay team (3:42.64, NCAA "B") that also included Liu, Kirk and Rovira. In her split, Bishop recorded an NCAA "B" mark of 54.66 that was just 0.19 seconds from the 100 back NCAA "A" standard.
Kelly (3-meter diving, 295.42) was the lone event winner on the first day for Texas.
Wycliffe did have a notable performance for the Longhorns, posting an NCAA "A" time of 1:57.23 with her second-place finish to Bishop in the 200 back as the two were locked in a ferocious and tight battle throughout the entire race.
Stahley (500 free, 4:52.58) and Andrea Axtell (200 back, 2:01.29) added NCAA "B" times for the Cardinal with second and third-place finishes, while Macie Garrett's third-place showing in the 500 free also came in an NCAA "B" mark of 4:53.00.
"I'm really proud of the way we swam today," summarized Maurer after Friday's showing. "I'm proud of our heart and camaraderie.Stanford will return to action at the Big West Shootout in Irvine from Friday-Saturday, November 4-5 (12:00 pm/10:00 am, PT).