FEDERAL WAY, Wash. -- Stanford received wins from Maya DiRado, Katie Olsen and Felicia Lee Friday night to put the Cardinal in second place at Pac-12 Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships. Cal sits in first (1,019.5), 52.5 points ahead of the Cardinal (967).
“This was an excellent night for our team,” explained head coach Greg Meehan. “Three wins, lots of great racing and we closed the gap from prelims. Tomorrow we need to be ready in the morning and see where it takes us.”
DiRado kicked things off by winning the 400 IM a night after claiming the 200-yard version of the event. She became the fifth Stanford swimmer in history to earn both IM conference titles in the same year with a final time of 4:01.72, over 2.5 seconds faster than anyone else in the field.
Lee followed DiRado by out touching USC’s Kendyl Stewart to win the 100 fly in 51.26, as Stanford was on its way to winning three of seven events of the night. The event was won in the second 50 after Lee and Stewart were within 0.03 seconds of each other midway through.
Next, Lia Neal was behind Cal’s Missy Franklin in the 200 free to place second and Katie Olsen kept the Cardinal’s momentum rolling by winning the 100 breast.
After being the only swimmer to break 1:00 minute in the 100 breast prelims, Olsen won the A final in 59.17. She established a career best with the No. 2 time in Stanford history behind Tara Kirk’s 58.41 set in 2004.
Lee followed Olsen by helping Stanford grab second place in each of the next two events. She was 0.10 behind Cal’s Rachel Bootsma in the 100 back (51.29) by beating her previous school record and joined DiRado, Olsen and Neal in the 400 medley relay for a second-place showing, 0.42 away from the Bears.
The relay squad also set a school record in 3:29.65, eclipsing the old mark of 3:30.06 set last season.
Stephanie Phipps, who won the one-meter title last night, finished second in the three-meter diving competition tonight (338.50). Alex Clay also made the finals and finished eighth (266.95), while USC’s Haley Ishimatsu won with 347.25 points.
“It was a good night, not great, for us,” said diving coach Dr. Rick Schavone. “For the most part the girls dived well. Stephanie started slowly but fought back nicely and Alex was good except for a costly error which put her in eighth place.”
Stanford will look for its second straight Pac-12 title when the meet concludes tomorrow. The 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, 400 free relay and platform diving will be contested.
Notes
Lee is Stanford’s first 100 fly winner since Elaine Breeden in 2010 (51.24) … The four other swimmers to win the 200 and 400 IMs in the same year are Michelle Griglione (1987, ’89), Summer Sanders (1992), Caroline Bruce (2005) and Julia Smit (2007,’09,’10) … Olsen is Stanford’s first 100 breast winner since Tara Kirk in 2004 … DiRado’s 400 IM is the third-fastest in Stanford history … Neal's 200 free is the fourth best in Stanford's record book.
Team Standings
1. California – 1,019.5
2. Stanford – 967
3. USC – 896
4. UCLA – 619.5
5. Arizona – 614.5
6. Utah – 473
7. Arizona State – 299.5
8. Washington State – 262
9. Oregon State – 209
2014 Pac-12 Titles
200 Medley Relay – Lee, Olsen, Stafford, Schaefer (1:35.74)
200 IM – Maya DiRado (1:54.67)
400 IM – Maya DiRado (4:01.72)
100 Breast – Katie Olsen (59.17)
100 Fly – Felicia Lee (51.26)
Three-meter Diving – Stephanie Phipps (332.25)
School Records
200 Medley Relay – Lee, Olsen, Stafford, Schaefer (1:35.74)
100 Back – Felicia Lee (51.29)
400 Medley Relay – Lee, DiRado, Olsen, Neal (3:29.65)