The UCLA Bruins took down the Washington State Cougars 143-104 in a dual meet Friday.
The Bruins won all but the 200 back and the 200 breast and spit the relays with the Cougars in the Pac-12 matchup, with UCLA winning the 200 medley relay and Washington State taking home the 200 free relay, although all of the UCLA free relays were exhibition.
The Bruin women’s swim team is coming off an impressive season last year where they set five school records at the NCAA Championships in Minneapolis and a 21st place team finish. They continued on that momentum this evening in the season opener.
The meet featured 100’s and 200’s of each stroke and allowed UCLA to showcase its depth, especially in the 100 fly, where four Bruins, three in exhibition, were faster than Washington State’s Anna Brolin, who came in at 56.81. UCLA’s Katie Kinnear won the race in 55.15.
The Bruins were one, two, three in the 100 free behind a senior, a sophomore, and a freshman. Senior Monica Dornick, Madison White, and freshman Katie Grover were the top finishers with Dornick leading in 50.51, 1.42 seconds ahead of her teammate White. While the freestyle speed appears to be in the upper classmen, the performance of the underclassmen could be an indicator of good things to come for the Bruins in sprint freestyle.
Dornick was second behind her teammate, Katy Campbell, in the 200 free. Campbell won in 1:50.26, Dornick was not far behind, coming in at 1:50.52, just over three seconds ahead of Washington State’s Rachel Thompson.
This was Campbell’s first intercollegiate meet since qualifying for the 2015 World Championships team this summer.
UCLA sophomore Linnea Mack is helping keep pace with in-state rival Cal in the 50 free, finishing 1st with a time of 22.85, ahead of Cal’s Missy Franklin and Farida Osman, who were 23.20 and 23.33 in finals at the All Florida Invite last weekend. She will be another sprinter to keep an eye on for the Bruins.
While the underclassmen contributed in the freestyle, the stroke events belonged to the UCLA’s upperclassmen, a UCLA junior or senior won the every stroke event that the Bruins won, although many of the younger swimmers swam exhibition in the season opener.
Next up for UCLA, now 1-0 on the season, will be a trip to UC-Santa Barbara in two weeks. Washington State hosts Arizona next Friday.
Full results are available here