BERKELEY – Home opening meets are always special, especially for freshmen who are competing in front of their family and friends as collegians for the first time. And Thursday was no exception for Cal's contingent of newcomers, especially for Ayla Spitz and Rachel Klinker, who combined for three individual wins in a 172-84 victory over Washington State at Spieker Aquatics Complex.
 
Spitz, a rookie from Newport Beach, claimed the 200-yard free, while Klinker, who hails from Lexington, Kentucky, placed first in both the 100 and 200 butterfly. Sophomore Ema Rajic (100 and 200 breaststroke) and junior Robin Neumann (100 and 1000 free) also won twice, as the Golden Bears swept all 14 events.
 
"It was so exciting," Spitz said. "The atmosphere was great. There was super-high energy, unlike any other meet I've done."
 
Added Klinker: "This was our third meet of the year, and I was so happy to finally have a meet here at home and represent the blue and gold."
 
Cal kicked off the afternoon with a sweep of the 200 medley relay, as Courtney Mykkanen, Rajic, Abbey Weitzeil and Emma Davidson touched first in 1:41.21. Neumann then stretched her normal routine to the 1000 free and claimed first in 10:11.19. Spitz followed with her victory in the 200 free in 1:49.07, a more than one-second improvement over her result in Fresno two weeks ago.
 
Klinker later won the 200 fly in 1:59.17 and, swimming out of lane one, the 100 fly in 55.07.
 
"I was ecstatic," Klinker said. "I wanted to do well today, but I didn't expect myself to do that well. It was a pleasant surprise. It makes sense after all the hard work we've been putting in this past month. We have a lot of work ahead, but I'm very happy with what I did today."
 
Other winners for the Bears on the afternoon were: Sophie Krivokapic-Zhou (100 back, 54.63), Rajic (100 breast, 1:02.19; 200 breast, 2:13.80), Maddie Murphy (50 free, 23.39), Neumann in the 100 free (50.74), Isabel Ivey (200 back, 1:58.35), Weitzeil (500 free, 4:47.49) and Sarah Darcel (200 IM, 2:02.99). Krivokapic-Zhou, Rajic, Alicia Wilson and Weitzeil comprised the victorious 400 free relay (3:24.31).
 
Cal's divers are next in action at the USC Invitational Nov. 8-10, while the swimmers will follow with a long-course meet at UC San Diego Nov. 11. The Bears return home on Dec. 21 to face San Jose State.