FEDERAL WAY, Wash. - Five more event victories were not enough for the top-ranked Stanford women's swimming and diving team to earn another Pac-12 title on Saturday at Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center.
The Cardinal, which produced the winner in five of the seven events on the final night of competition, finished as the runner-up for the third straight year. Stanford accumulated 1,344 points. That was better than Cal's 1,306, but just behind USC's 1,481.
Stanford also won two of three diving events at the meet. Gracia Leydon-Mahoney won the 3-meter diving on Thursday, and then earned the top spot on the platform on Saturday. She earned a score of 341.40 to comfortably outpace the rest of the field.
Senior Sarah Haase closed out her final Pac-12 championship meet in winning fashion. She was victorious in the 200-yard breaststroke with a finish of 2:07.69. That earned her a sweep in the breaststroke coupled with her win in the 100-yard portion of the stroke on Friday.
In the 100-yard freestyle, Lia Neal topped the field for her second individual win of the week. She tapped the wall at 46.97 to join her victory in the 200 free from one night earlier.
Meanwhile, freshman Ella Eastin earned her third individual title of the meet with a win in the 200 fly. She was more than a full second ahead of the runner-up with another impressive finish. She hit the touch pad at 1:52.01.
Eastin was also a member of the 400-yard freestyle relay team that closed the meet with another Stanford win. She teamed up with Janet Hu, Ally Howe and Neal to finish just ahead of USC with a time of 3:11.44.
Wednesday Recap - In the first event of the meet, Stanford's 200-yard medley relay team of Ally Howe (23.62), Sarah Haase (26.20), Janet Hu (22.82) and Lia Neal (21.51) set an American record. In addition, Alex Clay was runner-up in 1-meter diving.
Thursday Recap - Eastin (200-yard individual medley) and senior Gracia Leydon-Mahoney (3-meter diving) each won individual Pac-12 titles. Eastin posted the seventh-best finish of all-time in the event (1:52.77).
Friday Recap - Howe (51.05), Haase (57.73), Hu (50.37) and Neal (47.10) combined for their second American record of the meet. The foursome had already posted the fastest time in U.S. history in the 200-yard medley relay (3:26.25). Eastin (400 IM), Neal (200 free), Haase (100 breast) and Howe (100 back) each won individual events.
Where to Watch - Pac-12 Networks will broadcast the third day of action on Saturday, and the final day will air Sunday, Feb. 28. Each broadcast will begin at 10 a.m.
Follow the Cardinal - Senior Julia Ama will be taking over the team's snapchat during Pac-12 Championships week. You can follow Cardinal women's swimming and diving on instagram, twitter and snapchat at @StanfordwSwim.
#GoStanford