Skip Stubbs
Abbey Weitzeil broke three individual facility records at the Chick-fil-A Invitational, including in the 100 free Saturday.
WSWIM10/6/2018 1:51 PM | By: Cal Athletics
Bears Close Out Invite With Four More Wins
Cal Sets 10 Facility Records In 2-Day Meet at Fresno State
FRESNO – Cal wrapped up the Chick-fil-A Invitational Saturday with wins in four more events, including victories in the 400 medley relay and 400 free relay. As a result, the Golden Bears captured 15 of the 18 swimming events over the two-day meet.
Â
Senior
Katie McLaughlin and junior
Abbey Weitzeil both picked up their third individual wins of the weekend and broke facility records in their Saturday victories. McLaughlin claimed the 200-yard butterfly to go with her triumphs in the 100 fly and 200 free from Friday, while Weitzeil added the 100 free crown to her 50 free and 100 breast victories.
Â
The Bears opened the final session by posting the top four times in the 400 medley relay. The quartet of
Aislinn Light,
Ema Rajic, McLaughlin and Weitzeil paced the field with a mark of 3:44.36.
Â
Cal had no entries in the 1650 free, and in the next race, freshman
Alicia Wilson posted the Bears' top result in the 200 backstroke, finishing second in 2:01.17. Teammates
Keaton Blovad,
Courtney Mykkanen and
Robin Neumann were right behind in places 3-5, as all four Bears touched within a second of each other.
Â
In the 100 free, Weitzeil was the only swimmer under 50 seconds as she was timed in 48.78, with Neumann in third (50.41) and freshman
Elise Garcia fourth (51.48). Rajic, also a freshman, led Cal in the 200 breaststroke with a fourth-place showing in 2:20.18.
Â
In the 200 fly, the Bears claimed the first four spots, led by McLaughlin's 1:57.33. Freshman
Cassidy Bayer was next in 2:01.52, with sophomore
Sarah Darcel third (2:03.43) and Garcia fourth (2:03.86).
Â
The foursome of Neumann, Maddy Murphy, McLaughlin and Weitzeil closed out the meet by winning the 400 free relay by nearly six seconds in 3:21.30.
Â
"I felt we had three really good sessions of racing this weekend," head coach
Teri McKeever said. "I thought Katie and Abbey continued to shine, not only on the relays, but also individually. The results of the meet let us know where we are at this point of the season. We are moving in the right direction with still a long way to go, and we can use what we learned here to put into our training and make adjustments individually and collectively. That's really the purpose of these early meets."
Â
Overall, Cal won the six-team invitational with 1,250 points. San Diego State was second with 963 points, followed by Fresno State (487), Washington State (380), Air Force (367) and San Jose State (275).
Â
The Bears broke 10 Fresno Aquatics Center records over the two days of racing – three by Weitzeil (50 free, 100 free, 100 breast), two by McLaughlin (200 free, 200 fly) and in all five relays.
Â
Cal has a quick turnaround in its schedule, as the Bears host Utah in a coed dual meet starting at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at Spieker Aquatics Complex.
Â
Â