FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – No. 1-ranked California won three more individual titles at the Pac-12 Women's Swimming & Diving Championships Friday as the Golden Bears extended their lead to a 134.5-point advantage in the race for the team title.
Celina Li started the night with her first conference crown when she won the 400-yard individual medley. Missy Franklin then claimed her second consecutive 200 freestyle, and Rachel Bootsma won her third 100 backstroke title in a row.
Overall, Cal has 1,088.5 points, with Stanford second with 954 and USC third with 723. Cal looks to close out its second straight and fourth overall Pac-12 championship Saturday.
Through three nights of racing, the Bears have collected nine first-place trophies out of 12 swimming races. They set an American record in the 800 free relay and meet record in the 200 medley relay Wednesday, and added titles in the 500 free (Cierra Runge), 200 IM (Franklin), 50 free (Farida Osman) and 200 free relay Thursday.
In the most anticipated event of the night, Franklin just out-touched Stanford's Simone Manuel in the 200 free. Leading from the start, Franklin broke her own meet record with a time of 1:41.09, 0.06 seconds ahead of Manuel. The pair entered the race ranked first and second in the country, and the results kept them in those same positions.
In addition, Runge swam 1:43.31 for fourth place, with Elizabeth Pelton fifth in 1:43.44, Camille Cheng seventh in 1:45.03 and Caroline Piehl eighth in 1:45.04. Including consolation finalists Kaylin Bing and Rachael Acker, the Bears scored a total of 160 points in the event.
“It was exciting to see five Cal caps in the final,” head coach Teri McKeever said. “I thought Missy did a great job defending her title. We got experience some pretty exceptional swimming tonight.”
The night began with the 400 IM with Li and Kelly Naze as the top two seeds after morning prelims. The two Bears battled for the lead, with Li coming out on top in 4:06.09 and Naze right behind in a lifetime-best 4:08.38. In addition, Alicia Grima set a personal best of 4:14.86 for fifth place.
“That was Celina's first Pac-12 title, which is never to be taken for granted,” McKeever said. Kelly made the A final in all three of her events last year for the first time, and she's stepping it up another notch with a lifetime best last night (in the 200 IM) and another one today.”
Cal's third victory of the night came in the 100 back where Bootsma extended the Bears' dominance in the event to five years in a row. Cindy Tran claimed the crown in 2011 and '12, while Bootsma won in 2013 and '14. In Friday's race, Bootsma, the first three-time conference champ since 1994, touched in a season-best 50.84, almost a second ahead of the field. Melanie Klaren took third in 51.90 and Jasmine Mau was sixth in 52.96.
“That's pretty impressive any time you can win three times in a row, particularly in this conference that has a rich history of great backstrokers,” McKeever said. “This was a big day for Rachel. I thought she did a great job helping us on the relay, too. I'm really proud of what she's been able to do in the last year to put herself in this spot.”
In the 100 butterfly, Osman came up just short in her quest for a second title. USC's Kendyl Stewart won in 51.10, with Osman a fraction back in 51.14. Bootsma was third in 51.79, Noemie Thomas fourth in 51.91 and Mau sixth in 52.40.
The Bears did not have any swimmers in the 100 breaststroke, but Marina Garcia prevailed in the B final in a lifetime-best 1:00.88.
In the final race of the night, Stanford nudged Cal out of first in the 400 medley relay. The squad of Bootsma, Garcia, Osman and Franklin were timed in a season-best 3:30.21.
