FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – Cal sophomore Leah Polonsky completed the individual medley sweep Friday night, winning the Pac-12 championship in the 400-yard IM with the ninth-fastest time in the country this season (4:05.27).

It marked the second consecutive evening Polonsky won a conference championship after taking the 200 IM on Thursday at Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center.

"I just tried to swim my race again and just focus on my strokes, and not think about other people around me," Polonsky told the Pac-12 Network broadcast.

Polonsky got off to a quick start with the butterfly leg and never looked back, leading wire to wire to hold off UCLA's Paige Maceachern by almost a full second.

Polonsky qualified seventh during the morning prelims but shaved over seven seconds off her time in the finals. Her winning time was also the sixth-best all-time in the event in Cal history.

"I've been working on my backstroke," Polonsky said on the Pac-12 Network. "It felt really good yesterday and today."

Cal also reached the podium in three other events Friday. Junior Isabelle Stadden swam a Cal personal best 50.79 in the 100 backstroke to take second place while sophomore Mia Kragh took second in the 100 butterfly with a mark of 51.63. Cal's 400 medley relay team of Stadden, Polonsky, Kragh and Emma Davidson finished second with a time of 3:31.10.

The Bears are solidly in second place in the overall team standings with 874.5 points heading into the final day of the 2023 Pac-12 Championships. Saturday will feature the 1,650 freestyle, 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly and 400 freestyle relay.


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