PAC 12 WOMEN
Yesterday the Golden Bears of Cal jumped out to a slight lead over the rest of the field, notching 128 points over 2nd place Stanford (112) after some electric relay wins. Of course, day one scores aren’t always incredibly accurate predictions of what the scores will look like on the final day, but Cal put itself in good position to kick off the meet.
Tonight, Teri McKeever’s squad built on their lead over the rest of the Pac 12 after a dominating performance highlighted by Cierra Runge‘s new NCAA record in the 500 free. Missy Franklin and Farida Osman also pulled off big wins (the latter over Stanford’s Simone Manuel) as the Golden Bears turned their 16 point lead over the Cardinal into a monster 104.5 point lead after just three individual events.
While Manuel was slightly off tonight after losing to Osman and then failing to dip below 22, Cal’s sprinters were on, dropping another win in the 200 free relay on 21.46 splits from Osman and Franklin. The Cardinal closed the gap considerably in the 3-meter diving, though, where junior Alex Clay won with a score of 363.95, and Stanford got 3 other divers in the top 10. Cal’s highest finisher placed 12th.
Outside of the top two, a tight battle between Arizona and USC is shaping up with UCLA and Utah not too far behind.
Day 2 Scores
1. Cal 550
2. Stanford 512.5
3. USC 377
4. Arizona 370
5. UCLA 266.5
6. Utah 249
7. Arizona State 207
8. Washington State 160
9. Oregon State 156
I always forgot that it’s a “swimming AND DIVING..”