FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – On the opening night of the Pac-12 Championships, California took second in both the 200-yard medley relay and the 800-yard free relay, with both times ranking No. 2 in the country this season. The medley relay posted the second-fastest time in school history, while the free relay comes in fourth on the all-time Golden Bear chart.
 
The 200 medley relay kicked off the meet, and the foursome of Amy Bilquist, Abbey Weitzeil, Noemie Thomas and Farida Osman came through in 1:34.42. Stanford just nipped the Bears at the wall for first as the Cardinal finished in 1:34.32. The Cal record stands at 1:34.24, which came during the 2012 season.
 
About 30 minutes later, Cal claimed second in the 800 free relay, finishing in 6:53.37. Kathleen Baker led off and completed her 200 yards in 1:43.17, which is an NCAA A qualifying time in the 200 free and No. 8 all-time at Cal. She was followed by Katie McLaughlin, Abbey Weitzeil and Amy Bilquist. Stanford won the event in 6:49.42 with USC third in 6:54.24. The Cardinal's time broke the American record of 6:50.18 set by Cal at the Pac-12 meet two years ago.
 
In both relays, Cal's "B" squads also posted A qualifying times, though their results don't count toward the point standings. Baker, Marina Garcia, Maddie Murphy and Valerie Hull went 1:35.99 in the 200 medley relay, while Kristen Vredeveld, Jenna Campbell, Chenoa Devine and Celina Li were timed in 7:05.40 in the 800 free relay. Vredeveld just missed an A split for her 200 free leg, touching in 1:43.66 – 0.03 seconds off the mark – and putting her 10th in school history in the event.
 
"The 200 medley relay did an awesome job and it was just off our school record," head coach Teri McKeever said. "And the 800 free relay was another great race. One of the biggest highlights of the night was Kristen Vredeveld leading off the B relay, which is fast enough to guarantee her a spot for the NCAA meet."
 
The Pac-12 meet picks up again on Thursday with prelims at 10:30 a.m. and finals at 6 p.m. Both sessions will be streamed on Pac-12.com/live.