UCLA has a big-time recruiting class coming in next fall, but while that program is certainly on an upward trend, for now the Stanford Cardinal were just too much for them in a women’s dual meet in Palo Alto on Friday afternoon, as the Cardinal won 165-135 with no exhibitions.
Sophomore Maddy Schaefer and junior Felicia Lee make up an important part of the rebuilt nucleus of this Stanford roster that is in sort of a development year in their first season under new head coach Greg Meehan. The pair each set a new Avery Aquatic Center Pool Record on Friday.
First up, the junior Lee, who is coming back from early-season shoulder surgery, set the table for this meet with a thrilling 52.99 in the day’s 4th event: the 100 backstroke, breaking her own record from 2012. That’s her best time of the season and puts her 9th in the Pac 12 this season.
Three events later came Schaefer in the 50 free. She swam a 22.27 to win by well over a second, and go within a tenth of her mid-season best time. As an indicator of just how good of a swim that is for February 1st, even with all of the great sprinters that have come through the Stanford program and all of the big meets that have been hosted in Palo Alto, nobody has ever been faster in this pool than the teenager from Los Altos.
Even sweeter that Schaefer took the record away from a Berkeley rival. Former Cal Golden Bear Liv Jensen previously held the mark, though that was in her pre-Cal days when she swam for Palo Alto High School. (Nota Facto: Schaefer’s best time this year, a 22.18 from the Ohio State Invitational, set a Pool Record at the McCorkle Pavilion as well).
“We had some real nice performances today from top to bottom,” Meehan the coach said. “As a whole, we managed the meet really well and took care of our individual business to help the team come away with a victory. Now we shift our focus to be even better tomorrow.”
Interestingly, aside from those two swims, the Cardinal were swimming a lot of off events as they prepare for their big showdown with the USC Trojans on Saturday.
Meanwhile, UCLA but up a valiant fight in this meet to show that despite the loss of most of their top swimmers from last season, they are still an upper-tier team in the conference. In the 200 fly, an event where the Bruins have so much recent tradition, they went 1-2-3 led by sophomore Noelle Tarazona in a 1:57.74. That’s the fastest time in the conference this semester; she was followed by teammates Stephanie Christoffersen in 2:01.50 and Anna Senko in 2:02.18 in the finishing order.
Swimmer of the Meet Honors for the squad from Los Angeles, though, probably goes to junior Ting Quah. She grabbed a nice 53.39 second win in the 100 fly ahead of Stanford’s Schaefer (54.48), and swam great times in both the 100 (50.52) and 200 (1:48.11) freestyles. Notably, the winner of those freestyles were Stanford’s Andi Murez (49.18 in the 100) and Maya DiRado (1:47.42 in the 200), both very good times in their own right.
Liv and Maddy were teammates on PASA. Liv’s record stood for 5 years. Both swims were sweet. Liv chose Cal. Maddy chose Stanford. There is no animosity, just two great sprinters. No need to turn it into something it isn’t.
I would say even sweeter than Maddy taking the record from Liv is that Liv is from Palo Alto High School and decided to go to Cal. #steal #GoBears
#theylostagain?
Not sure why that would be sweet. Paly (P.A. High School) is not part of Stanford, and do you even know if Liv got into Stanford anyway? Most people don’t, not even good athletes.
If Cal wanted her, Stanford wanted her. And if Stanford wanted her, and she got in to Cal, she could get into Stanford.
I don’t get too excited about dual meets. They are great to get up and race but the overall scoring is not that important. There are many examples of teams that win dual meets and conference and then lose to the same teams at NCAA’s.
I see your point and can see why this so important to you. If she got into both Stanford and Cal, and then chose Cal, that would be a rare event indeed.
Grand, that’s laughable. It happens all of the time-every year. And I don’t think she regrets the Championship rings one bit.