FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – Through the first two days of the Pac-12 Championships, California stands in second place following a night of close calls and personal bests. While the Golden Bears did not post a win on the night, Cal did register three second-place finishes and a third-place showing in four swimming events.
 
With seven events complete, the Bears have 490 points and trail leader Stanford, which has 546 points, with Arizona third with 376 points.
 
In the 500-yard freestyle, sophomore Katie McLaughlin swam a personal-best 3:36.04 to take third place. The time eclipses the NCAA A qualifying standard and places her No. 3 on Cal's all-time list in the event. In addition, freshman Chenoa Devine improved her season best by more than four seconds and captured the B final in 4:41.19.
 
In the 200 individual medley, sophomore Kathleen Baker also posted a lifetime best, touching the wall in 1:52.74, which put her second in the race and ranked No. 2 in the country. Freshman Keaton Blovad (7th, 1:58.50) and senior Celina Li (8th, 1:59.01) scored in the A final, as well. Senior Marina Garcia took eighth in the B final in 2:01.74, while junior Maija Roses won the C final in 1:59.71.
 
Sophomore Phoebe LaMay led the Bears on the one-meter springboard, placing fifth with a score of 286.15 and moving up four spots from her ninth-place showing last year.
 
In the last individual event of the night, Cal scored an impressive 142 points with eight scorers in the 50 free. Senior Farida Osman led the way, taking second a season-best 21.49, while freshman Abbey Weitzeil was right behind in 21.50 with sophomore Amy Bilquist eighth in 22.13. Freshman Maddie Murphy won the B final in 21.96 (9th overall) – making her the No. 5 performer in school history – with senior Kristen Vredeveld next in a PR 22.12. Others to post times in the event were junior Valerie Hull (13th, 22.25), junior Noemie Thomas (14th, PR 22.42) and junior Jasmin Mau (24th, 22.96).
 
The 200 free relay, comprised of Weitzeil, Bilquist, Murphy and Osman, closed out the evening and Cal finished a fraction behind Stanford, 1:26.44 to 1:26.49. The Bears' time put the foursome third in school history. Cal still owns the top time in the NCAA this year with a 1:26.31 from the Georgia Invitational in December.
 
"I was really proud of our 500 freestylers, Katie and Chenoa, both with lifetime bests," head coach Teri McKeever said. "Kathleen Baker continues to do an awesome job in the 200 IM, and Maija's swim where she broke two minutes was really inspirational. In the 50, we scored a lot of points and it was great to wee Maddie Murphy break 22 seconds and get into Cal's all-time best list. Phoebe did a great job in diving and I was excited to see her in the championship final and keep improving. We've got to keep fighting and there's still a long ways to go. Tomorrow is a big day and we look to continue to keep it going."
 
The meet resumes Friday, with prelims at 10:30 a.m. and finals starting at 6 p.m. Champions will be determined in the 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 free, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, 3-meter diving and the 400 medley relay.