COLUMBUS, Ohio – California capped off another strong night at the NCAA Championships Friday with the Golden Bears setting their third school record in the meet in the last event, this time in the 200-yard medley relay.
 
The foursome of Kathleen Baker, Abbey Weitzeil, Noemie Thomas and Amy Bilquist raced to a time of 1:33.85, a quarter second under the previous mark, which won the event last year. This time, Stanford touched first in 1:33.11, while Bilquist swam a 20.95 freestyle anchor to chase down Indiana, as the Bears nipped the Hoosiers by 0.04 seconds at the finish. The top three relays posted the three fastest times in history.
 
Through 14 events, Cal stands firmly in second place with 268 points, putting the Bears in prime position to secure their 10th consecutive top 3 finish – the longest current streak in the country. Stanford leads with 414 points, while Texas A&M is third with 186 and Texas fourth with 171.
 
"We had a great team meeting last night and just talked about perspective," head coach Teri McKeever said. "I was really proud of how the women came in this morning (in qualifying). They came back tonight and had really an epic race (in the medley relay) with Amy getting her hand to the wall and all of them doing a great job.
 
"We've got to come around tomorrow," McKeever added. "We always talk about Saturday morning being tough. So we're going to have to come in and do what we did this morning and finish strong and see where it takes us."
 
Freshman Sarah Darcel was the first Golden Bear in the water in the 400 individual medley, and she touched eighth in 4:04.44. No Cal swimmer has placed higher or been faster in the event final since Caitlin Leverenz was third in 2013.
 
The Bears then picked up key points in the 100 butterfly. Thomas, a three-time finalist in the event, had the best finish of her career by placing fourth in 50.92. She was sixth as a sophomore and fifth last season. Junior Katie McLaughlin was close behind Thomas and took sixth in 51.20.
 
McLaughlin then had about 10 minutes to rest before having to get back up on the blocks for the 200 free final. She came through in 1:44.32 for eighth place, one spot higher than last year when she was ninth. In addition, Robin Neumann, the only freshman to qualify for the final, finished fifth in 1:43.54.
 
"Katie's double was really impressive, not only for us, but other people noticed, as well," McKeever said.
 
The Bears also had a pair of swimmers in the 100 back in Baker and Bilquist. In the consolation final, Bilquist went 51.51 to take second place, and then Baker put up a time of 50.18 to touch third in the championship race.
 
The NCAA meet concludes Saturday with finals in seven events. Prelims begin at 7 a.m. PT, with the final session starting at 3 p.m. PT.