FEDERAL Way, Wash. - Pac-12 Swimming and Diving Championships came to a close on Saturday evening as No. 5 Stanford finished third in the meet with 1,283 points, trailing conference champion California and USC. The Cardinal collected four Pac-12 titles and 18 podium finishes over the course of the four-day event.
Kicking off the final night of action, Aurora Roghair repeated as Pac-12 champion in the 1650 free as she shaved sixteen seconds off of last year's championship time to touch the wall at 15:46.35. The time was six seconds faster than her previous career best, as the junior now has the second-fastest 1650 free time in the nation this season heading into NCAA Championships.
After pacing the field in prelims, Natalie Mannion finished second in the 200 back "A" final with a time of 1:52.47 for her second individal medal of the weekend. In the 100 yard free, Amy Tang finished fourth with a 48.08, while fellow "A" final qualifiers Gigi Johnson and Kayla Wilson finished sixth with a 48.25 and eighth with a 48.68, respectively. Anna Shaw clocked a 48.60 to win the "B" final in the event.
Caroline Bricker also tallied the top prelim in the 200 yard breast, but her bid for a third Pac-12 title fell short as she touched the wall second behind USC's Kaitlyn Dobler with a time of 2:07.20. Lucy Thomas won the "B" final in the event with a time of 2:10.87, while Sam Tadder finished 14th overall with a 2:12.40 mark.
Lillie Nordmann earned herself another podium finish on the weekend with a 1:52.38 time in the 200 fly, finishing just ahead of teammate Charlotte Hook with a fourth-place effort of 1:53.23. Lucy Bell placed seventh in the "A" final with a 1:54.75 in what was the final individual event of the weekend.
A phenomenal 400 free relay closed the show on Saturday night as the quartet of Shaw, Nordmann, Johnson, and Tang finished two-hundredths of a second off the pace with a 3:11.11 to come home with silver for the event.
In the platform diving event, Emilie Moore reached her first "A" final of the weekend to place sixth with a 246.60, while Lauren Burch won the consolation dives with a score of 243.75 after missing the cut for the "A" final by one spot in the morning session.
Following the meet, Bricker was named the Pac-12 Championships Swimmer of the Meet after her efforts on the weekend. The freshman collected both the 200 and 400 IM titles before Saturday night's runner-up finish in the 200 breast.
Stanford returns to action on March 11-13 with the NCAA Diving Zone E meet in Flagstaff, Arizona before NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships gets underway in Athens, Georgia on March 20-23.
