STANFORD, Calif. - Behind a trio of pool records, No. 2 Stanford closed out its home schedule with an impressive 202-98 victory over No. 4 USC on Saturday afternoon in front of another strong crowd at Avery Aquatic Center.
Stanford (7-0, 6-0 Pac-12) remained unbeaten in seven duals this year and has won its last 14 overall dating back to 2014. The Cardinal has also prevailed in 11 consecutive home duals.
Saturday's competition also represented the final home meet for seniors Bridget Boushka, Tara Halsted, Lia Neal and Nicole Stafford. During their time on The Farm, Stanford has never finished worse than third at the NCAA Championships with runner-up finishes in 2014 and 2016.
Fitting Ending
Neal capped her career on The Farm with a pool record in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The two-time Olympian touched the Avery wall for the final time and stopped the clock at 3:15.05 -- it was a half-second faster than the nine-year-old facility record set by Dwelley, Breeden, Smith and Smit. Fellow Olympians Simone Manuel and Katie Ledecky took the first two legs and Janet Hu covered the third 100. Stanford's other seniors, Stafford and Halsted, also served as anchors in the final event.
More Pool Records
To the delight of the large crowd, Stanford set two other pool records on the sunny January afternoon. Manuel topped the mark set just one day earlier by Ledecky in the 200 free. Manuel hit the wall at 1:42.72. Neal was second at 1:44.59. In the next event, it was Hu's turn. She topped her own record in the 100 backstroke by .04 with a first-place finish of 51.91.
Simone Manuel broke the Avery record (set by Katie Ledecky) in the 200 free, earning her the @OpusBank #12Best Moment!#JustOlympianThings pic.twitter.com/eKp2uujGwT
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) January 28, 2017
Distance Stars
Ledecky won both distance free events to remain undefeated in those events as a collegian. She was tops by more than 30 seconds in the 1,000 free at 9:12.32 and bested the field by 12 seconds in the 500 free at 4:34.98. Stanford went 1-2-3 in both events as freshman Megan Byrnes was second (9:48.68) and sophomore Leah Stevens was third (9:57.14) in the 1000, while freshman Katie Drabot (4:47.00) was the runner-up and Byrnes was third (4:49.32) in the 500.
Diving Stars
Kassidy Cook earned the victory on the 1-meter with a score of 326.33. It marked the second straight weekend sweep in that event for Cook.
More Winners
Manuel and Neal were also tops in the 50 and 100 freestyles, respectively. Manuel (22.14) out-touched Neal (22.53) in the 50, but Neal was first to the wall in the 100 at 48.18. Hu was also victorious in the 100 fly (52.05), while freshman Erin Voss edged out Ally Howe by five-hundreths of a second in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:55.42. Sophomore Ella Eastin won at the wall in the 200 butterfly (1:55.35) and was tops in the 200 individual medley (1:58.11) ahead of freshman Allie Szekely (1:59.78). In addition, the winning 200 medley relay (1:38.52) featured Ally Howe, Heidi Poppe, Hu and Manuel.
WHAT'S AHEAD
Next up for Stanford is a Feb. 11 dual against California in Berkeley. The meet can be seen on the Pac-12 Network at noon
SOCIAL SCENE:
Stanford women's swimming and diving can be found on instagram, twitter and snapchat at StanfordWSwim.