HOUSTON, Texas – Stanford women's swimming and diving continued to be a mainstay on the podium in day three of the Pac-12 Women's Swimming and Diving Championships, and the Cardinal remain in first place in the team race entering Saturday's final day.
Brooke Forde defended her Pac-12 title in the 400 IM – and took third in 200 free – while Stanford placed seven swimmers and divers on the podium to maintain a narrow lead in the team race with 1091 points. Cal remains in second but closed the gap to 16.5 points.
The title in the 400 IM is the fourth of Forde's career and her second of the weekend. She led a 1-3 Cardinal finish, as Hannah Kukurugya (4:08.70) also took third in the event. Forde's time of 4:02.57 is an NCAA A standard and, entering the day, would make her the fastest individual in the country this season.
Forde came back to swim a lifetime best of 1:44.36 in the finals of the 200 free less than an hour later, taking third for another podium finish. She concluded the night by being honored as the Pac-12 Women's Swimming and Diving Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
"The women are simply having fun being together and representing Stanford," said the Paul A. Violich Director of Women's Swimming Greg Meehan. "They really value both of those, and its probably the reason why we are in such a great team battle. Congratulations to our diving crew for their phenomenal performances in Arizona this week."
Stanford came within 34-hundreths of a second of a Pac-12 title in the 200 medley relay, losing to Cal 1:35.18 to 1:35.52. Despite finishing second, the team of Alex Crisera, Allie Raab, Emma Wheal and Amalie Fackenthal swam a NCAA A standard in the event.
Crisera also finished third in the 100 back in 52.38, while Janelle Rudolph was fifth in 52.58.
The Cardinal opened the day with a third-place finish by Mia Paulsen on the platform to close out the diving portion of the meet in Tucson, Ariz. Paulsen scored a 285.10, while Daria Lenz finished fourth in 275.15.
Allie Raab finished third in the 100 breast in a B standard of 58.74. Zoe Bartel and Grace Zhao finished fifth and seventh, respectively, for 75 points in the event.
Stanford will conclude the Pac-12 Championships tomorrow with the 1650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly and 400 free relay.
