MINNEAPOLIS – Cal opened up the Minnesota Invitational Wednesday with a 2-for-2 performance against several of the nation's best teams, winning both the 200-yard medley relay and the 800-yard free relay on the opening night of the four-day meet.
 
The foursome of Keaton Blovad, Ema Rajic, Maddie Murphy and Abbey Weitzeil completed the 200 medley relay in 1:35.24, which ranks as the second fastest in the country so far this season. The Bears trailed Michigan going into the final 50 yards, but Weitzeil split 20.56 on her freestyle leg to make up a nearly one-second deficit to win by 0.29 seconds.
 
In addition, Cal placed two other relays in the top 8 as Ayla Spitz, Ali Harrison, Isabel Ivey and Eloise Riley were fourth in 1:37.22, and Aislinn Light, Alexa Buckley, Elise Garcia and Robin Neumann were eighth in 1:39.83.
 
A short while later, the teams took to the pool for the 800 free relay, and the Bears came through with the nation's top time, touching the wall in 6:56.00. Spitz, Ivey and Neumann made up the first three legs, and once again, Weitzeil brought Cal from behind for the victory. Her 1:42.42 split was nearly two seconds faster than any other swimmer in the field as the Bears finished ahead of Texas, which posted a time of 6:57.04.
 
Cal's B relay also made a run for the top of the podium, with Sarah DiMeco, Alicia Wilson, Rachel Klinker and Blovad taking third in 7:04.50.
 
"We got off to a good start tonight," head coach Teri McKeever said. "The depth that we saw on all of our relays was nice to see. What we're trying to do is figure out what our options are and keep evaluating. We're looking forward to doing more good things in the morning so that we can have another evening like we did today. Top to bottom, I'm really pleased with our effort and results."
 
In the team standings, Cal leads with 192 points, followed by Texas (124), Arizona (90) and Michigan (78). Host Minnesota, Harvard and Iowa round out the schools competing.
 
Action on day two gets underway with prelims starting at 8 a.m. PT. Diving begins at 10 a.m. and finals at 4 p.m. Fans can follow either through live results or on a live video stream. The invitational runs through Saturday.