FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – Cal's tradition in the backstroke includes a host of champions at virtually all levels of swimming, including NCAA's and the Olympics. Sophomore Kathleen Baker made sure she kept it going at the Pac-12 Championships Saturday.
 
On the final night of the meet, Baker captured the 200-yard backstroke in 1:48.33, setting a meet record with the fastest time in the country this season. The result gave the Golden Bears the 200 back crown for the fifth year in a row, following Elizabeth Pelton (2013, '14), Missy Franklin (2015) and Amy Bilquist (2016).
 
In typical Baker fashion, she broke to the lead from the start and held on for a more than one second advantage over runner-up Janet Hu of Stanford, who finished in 1:49.36.
 
"That's sort of my strategy for every race I do," Baker, the 2016 Olympic silver medalist in the 100-meter back, told the Pac-12 Network immediate after her race. "I was just hoping I had enough to bring it home the last 75 (yards)."
 
As a team, second-ranked Cal earned second place with 1,392 points behind Stanford, which had 1,587.5 points. USC was third with 1,250.5 points and Arizona fourth with 1075.5 points.

"I'm really proud of the way our team stepped up," head coach Teri McKeever said. "Throughout the meet, we had a number of personal bests and some great relay performances. We had someone in the top 8 in 20 of 21 events, and every woman on the team scored. It was a total team effort. We'll celebrate tonight and then refocus on NCAA's coming up in three weeks."

In addition to Baker, the Bears had two others in the 200 back final. Bilquist placed fourth in 1:51.22 and freshman Keaton Blovad took eighth in 1:54.03.
 
In the 100 freestyle, senior Farida Osman posted a season-best time in finishing third in 47.36, with senior Kristen Vredeveld setting a personal best with a time of 48.14 while taking seventh. Freshman Maddie Murphy won the B final in a PR 48.72.
 
Senior Marina Garcia raced a lifetime best in the 200 breaststroke and claimed fourth place in 2:08.42, with junior Maija Roses 10th in 2:11.83.
 
Bears finished 3-4 in the 200 butterfly. Sophomore Katie McLaughlin was third in a PR 1:53.29 – making her the No. 5 swimmer in school history in the event – and junior Noemie Thomas was fourth in 1:54.50.
 
In the 1650 free, freshman Chenoa Devine improved more than 30 seconds from her last attempt at the mile, touching in 16:08.16, which put her in fifth place and No. 3 all-time on the Cal list.
 
Sophomore Phoebe LaMay reached the final in platform diving, placing sixth with a PR score of 241.60.
 
In the final event of the meet, the foursome of Kristen Vredeveld, Amy Bilquist, Kathleen Baker and Farida Osman took third in 3:10.15 – the No. 3 time in Cal history. Freshman Abbey Weitzeil, who would have swam in the 100 free and likely would have been part of the relay, was not feeling well and decided to rest so that she can recover in order to compete at the upcoming NCAA Championships, which will be held March 15-18 in Indianapolis.