STANFORD, Calif. – Senior Day against rival and third-ranked Cal will serve a larger purpose on Saturday as the No. 2 Stanford women’s swimming and diving team will raise funds for the Lucile Packard Stanford Children’s Hospital.
#ForTheKids – At the entrance, fans are encouraged to make a donation #FortheKids. The Stanford women’s swimming and diving team is raising funds for the Lucile Packard Stanford Children’s Hospital on Saturday. Last year, the team raised nearly $2,500 at their meet against Texas. Help the team and hospital surpass that total on Saturday!
Senior Day – Prior to Saturday’s meet, the Stanford team and fans will honor nine seniors in their final home meet at Avery Aquatics Center — Julia Ama, Julia Anderson, Allison Brown, Alex Clay, Sarah Haase, Lilly Hinrichs, Kelly Markle, KC Moss and Jaynie Pulte.
About No. 3 Cal – Cal enters the meet at 6-1 overall and 5-1 in Pac-12 competition. The Bears easily won their first five meets of 2015-16 before they were defeated by No. 7 USC, 153-147, in Los Angeles. Just one day later, the Trojans nearly knocked off the Cardinal.
Previous Matchup – Stanford’s last meeting with Cal is its only loss in the last 12 dual meets. The 158-142 defeat came in Berkeley on Feb. 14, 2015. Three individual wins from then-freshman Simone Manuel was not enough, as No. 3 California spoiled the No. 2 Stanford women’s swimming and diving team’s Valentine’s Day. Manuel won the 50, 100 and 200-yard freestyles in the meet featuring numerous NCAA title contenders.
Last Time Out – Four Cardinal won multiple events en route to a 189-118 win over No. 19 UCLA on Jan. 29 at the Spieker Aquatics Center in Los Angeles. Freshman Ella Eastin, sophomore Janet Hu, sophomore Ally Howe and junior Lia Neal all won twice for Stanford, which was also led by a strong day from the senior class. The following day, the Cardinal rallied for a come-from-behind 152-148 victory over No. 7 USC, sweeping its SoCal weekend road swing. Stanford clinched the meet with a second-place finish in the 400-yard free relay, handed USC its first conference loss of the season and remained unbeaten in the series with the Trojans since 1996.
Up Next – Saturday’s dual meet concludes the regular season for the Cardinal. The Pac-12 Championships are on the horizon. The diving conference championships are Feb. 24-27, and the swimming championships are set for March 2-5 in Federal Way, Wash.
Follow the Cardinal – You can follow Cardinal women’s swimming and diving all year long on instagram, twitter and snapchat (@StanfordwSwim).
Swimming news courtesy of Stanford Swimming & Diving.