Jan. 25, 2008
Stanford, Calif. - No. 3 Stanford (3-1, 2-0 Pac-10) returned to the pool on a rainy Friday at the Avery Aquatic Center after nearly two months out of action and rolled to a 184-110 victory over No. 17 Arizona State (9-3, 4-2 Pac-10). Julia Smit (200 back, 200 fly), Brooke Bishop (100 free, 100 back), Elizabeth Durot (200 free, 500 free) and Meg Hostage (1-meter diving, 3-meter diving) won two events each as Stanford took 12 of the meet's 16 events. Elizabeth Smith provided the biggest individual highlight of the meet when she recorded the lone NCAA `A' qualifying time in her 200 breast victory with a mark of 2:13.55.
Other individual winners for the Cardinal included Whitney Spence (1000 free) and Kerry Kraemer (100 breast), while Stanford also took the 200 medley relay.
Jen Beckberger (50 free), Caitlin Andrews (100 fly) and Ashley Evans (200 IM) won individual events for Arizona State, while the Sun Devils also captured the 200 free relay.
The meet started with Stanford's victory in the 200 medley relay with a team of Fiona O'Donnell-McCarthy, Smith, Breeden and Bishop that recorded an NCAA `B' mark of 1:41.68.
Stanford then went 1-2 in each of the next five individual events. Spence (10:04.45) and Breeden (10:17.24) started the stretch by taking the top two spots in the 1000 free. Durot won the 200 free in an NCAA `B' time of 1:50.22 while O'Donnell-McCarthy taking a close second in 1:50.39. Bishop (56.03) and Bruce (57.27) posted the top two finishes in the 100 back, before Kerry Kraemer (1:02.89, NCAA `B') earned her first collegiate victory in the 100 breast and Smit backing her up in second (1:03.27, NCAA `B'). Smit (2:01.29, NCAA `B') and Smith (2:01.70, NCAA `B') raced to a close finish in the 200 fly to end the stretch.
"I'm stoked to say the least," said Kraemer about her first collegiate win. "The Pac-10 is a tough conference, and getting a good win definitely gives me more confidence going into the season."
Arizona State ended the Cardinal streak by taking the top three spots in the 50 free with Beckberger's win in 23.46 followed by a second place showing from Jess Perazzo and a third place finish by Katie Haron.
Bishop helped to quickly turn the momentum back in Stanford's favor with her 100 free victory in an NCAA `B' time of 50.55.
The Cardinal would put the meet of reach by taking the top three spots in both the 200 back and 200 breast. Smit's 200 back win in an NCAA `B' time of 1:59.26 was backed up by O'Donnell-McCarthy (2:02.15) and Wadden (2:02.56). Smith then provided the top individual moment of the meet with her 2:13.55 NCAA `A' time to take the 200 breast, while Kraemer (2:15.78, NCAA `B') and Breeden (2:20.84) followed.
Durot added her second win of the meet by taking the 500 free (4:53.27, NCAA `B') before Andrew swam to a convincing victory in the 100 fly with a time of 54.34 compared to second place Stefanie Sutton of Stanford's mark of 55.31. Both were NCAA `B' times.
The Cardinal swam the last two events exhibition. Evans was credited with a win in the 200 IM (2:04.98) despite finishing behind Stanford's Kate Dwelley (2:03.24, NCAA `B'). Arizona State's 200 free relay foursome of Andrew, Beckberger, Lindsey Brown and Perazzo (1:33.50, NCAA `B') also officially got a win although Smit passed Perazzo with an amazing split of 22.41 over the final 50.
Stanford's theme of taking the top two sports also applied to the boards at the adjacent Maas Family Diving Center where Hostage's 1-meter victory (276.00) was supported by teammate Sarah Ohr (264.45) and her 3-meter win (369.30) was backed up by Katie Lampe (322.05).
"We faced some adverse conditions today, but the team showed a strong camaraderie, raced tough and came through with the victory," summarized head coach Lea Maurer. "We are looking towards tomorrow and preparing ourselves for a strong Arizona squad."
Stanford returns to the pool Saturday (12 pm, PT) to host No. 4 Arizona, who headed into a meet at No. 5 California on Friday with an 8-0 overall mark and a 4-0 Pac-10 record. The Wildcats edged Stanford for first place at the Texas Invitational early this season during the three-day meet in Austin last November 29 - December 1.