Two days, two NCAA records for Stanford junior Julia Smit. USC senior Rebecca Soni joined in to make another big splash.
Times keeping dropping like anchors.
It was also an NCAA record day at the pool for Soni, America’s current breaststroke queen and 2008 U.S. Summer Olympics surprise.
Smit followed up Thursday’s 200 individual medley American record with an NCAA-best time of 4 minutes, 1.56 seconds in the 400 IM on Friday night in the 23rd annual Pac-10 Conference Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center.
Soni, who won Olympic gold in the 2008 Summer Olympics with a world-record time in the 200-meter breaststroke, captured the 100-yard breaststroke crown in an NCAA-record clocking on Friday.
The shy, innocent looks belie a killer instinct in the pool for the Trojans’ star.
“She’s very competitive,” said USC coach Dave Salo. “She likes to race. My first year [in 2006-07] that was her biggest complaint, ‘Who am I going to race in practice? Who am I going to race in practice?’
“I think the biggest thing is she just trusts herself now.”
Salo wanted Soni to enjoy her senior season after an amazing Olympic experience that gave her confidence, but took a physical and emotional toll.
“It’s just all coming from her heart and she’s discovering to trust her instincts about being an athlete and what she needs to do in her training,” Salo said. “She can really move as far as she wants to move. The toughest thing to do was to come off an Olympic Games and all the hype about that.
“What we tried to do when she came back [after a month and a half off] was to keep the pressure off her and don’t add to the pressure of being an Olympic champion.”
Soni touched the wall in a time of 58.10 seconds for NCAA, Pac-10 meet and conference marks, just .43 seconds shy of the American mark set of 57.77 by former Cal swimmer Natalie Coughlin on March 4, 2006 at the U.S. Open.
Swimming the second leg, Soni also helped the Trojans 400-yard medley relay to a Pac-10 crown.
“The competition here is great and it makes me want to swim fast,” said Soni, the three-time defending NCAA champion in the 200-yard breast and 2008 champ in the 100 breast. “I was definitely taken aback by accomplishments this summer. It is pretty hard to re-motivate yourself, especially after having such little rest to come back and start training again.
“But my teammates helped me a lot. They made practice fun every day.”
Smit accelerated into the limelight for the second night in a row at the Pac-10 meet.
Smit, the defending NCAA champion in the 400 IM, churned to her winning 200 IM time to set NCAA, Pac-10 meet and conference marks. The Cardinal star, an Olympian in 2008, cruised to a big victory over USC freshman Katinka Hosszu (4:03.60).
“I don’t think I came into this meet with too many specific goals, because I’m more focused on the NCAAs at the end of the season,” said Smit. “I was just excited to be with the whole team and see the whole team race. I’ve been feeling pretty good, though.
“I think there’s more there. I definitely think I can go faster in the 400 IM. The 200 IM is a little more fun, because it hurts a little less. The 400 IM’s always been like my baby, though.”
Smit finished just 1.06 seconds off the American mark set by Dagny Knutson of Minot YMCA on Dec. 5, 2008 at the U.S. Open.
Smit won the 200 IM title on Thursday night in an American record time of 1:53.11, bettering the NCAA mark in the process. She’ll go for another two crowns Saturday night as No. 3 seed in the 100-yard freestyle or with the Cardinal’s third-seeded 400-yard free relay.
In the Pac-10 team race, even with Ana Agy’s win in the 100-yard backstroke, second-day leader Arizona couldn’t resist California from taking over the lead 990.5 points to 937.5 after 14 events. Stanford sits third at 873.
Arizona, the defending NCAA team champion, couldn’t pull off a Pac-10 repeat in the 400-yard medley relay after USC’s strong showing. The Wildcats won the event in the NCAA meet in 2008.
With Soni joining Kristen Lahey, Katinka Hosszu and Rachael Waller, USC won the 400-yard medley relay in a time of 3:31.75, just edging Arizona by three-tenths of a second.
Elaine Breeden, Smit’s junior teammate at Stanford, pulled off an upset in the 100-yard butterfly finals, covering the distance in 50.87 from Lane 6.
Breeden, the No. 6 seed from the preliminaries, upended 2007 NCAA champion Dana Vollmer of California by surging late to outkick Vollmer, who took second at 51.11.
Both Breeden and Vollmer, who set an American record in the 200 free when leading off the Bears’ victorious 800-yard freestyle relay, put up NCAA-qualifying times. Vollmer was denied her third consecutive 100 fly title in the Pac-10.
Vollmer made amends for her 100 fly defeat immediately with a gutty late rally to win the 200-yard freestyle final over Cal teammate and freshman Sara Isakovic. The Bears’ senior clocked in at 1:42.68 to set a Pac-10 meet record with Isakovic (1:43) and defending Pac-10 200 free champion Kate Dwelley (1:43.80) close behind.
Agy, an Arizona junior, took top honors in the 100 back with an NCAA-qualifying clocking of 51.65, denying Cal’s Lauren Rogers a third consecutive Pac-10 title in the event.
Rogers finished in 51.86.
USC freshman Victoria Ishimatsu won the 3-meter diving competition in dramatic fashion 327.70 points to 325.90 over Stanford’s Carmen Stellar.
Stellar’s Cardinal teammate Margaret Hostage took third at 321.35.
Dana Vollmer Wins Pac-10 Title in the 200 Free; Cal Takes Overall Lead
It was another strong performance by the Cal women’s swimming team as senior Dana Vollmer won the Pac-10 Championship in the 200-yard freestyle on Thursday night at the King County Aquatics Center. The Golden Bears stormed ahead of Arizona into first place with 990.5 points heading into Saturday’s final seven events.
Additionally, Cal swimmers are continuing to achieve personal-best times and putting themselves in position to compete at the NCAA Championships later in March.
“Everyone really stepped up today and it was really good to everyone perform at a high level,” said head coach Teri McKeever. “We need to get our rest tonight and come out strong tomorrow morning. We hope to finish strong.”
Vollmer took home the Pac-10 Championship in the 200-yard freestyle with a first-place time of 1:42.68 – also an NCAA Automatic time. On Wednesday, Vollmer clocked a Pac-10, NCAA, Cal and American record time of 1:41.53 in the leadoff 200 yard leg of the freestyle. It was Vollmer’s first title in the 200 free and the fourth time in the last five years that a Cal swimmer claimed the 200 free title (Emily Silver in 2005 and 07, and Erin Reilly in 2006).
Sara Isakovic finished right behind Vollmer in the 200 free with an NCAA Automatic qualifying time of 1:43.00 – a new best time at Cal. In the 2008 Olympics, Isakovic took home a silver medal for her native Slovenia in the 200-meter free, finishing in 1:54.97, just 0.15 seconds behind winner Frederica Pellegrini of Italy, who set a world record with a time of 1:54.82. The previous world mark was 1:55.52.
Liv Jensen, who is having a stellar Pac-10 Championship placed fourth in the 200 free with a time of 1:45.47. In the morning prelims, Jensen clocked a personal-best time of 1:44.92. Another young standout for the Bears, Erica Dagg, placed fifth with a time of 1:45.84. Dagg reached a new personal-best time of 1:45.64 in the morning prelims as well. Madison Kennedy rounded out the Cal top finishers in the 200 championship final with a sixth place and personal-best time of 1:45.85.
A total of five Cal swimmers occupied the top-8 in the championship final of the 200 free after only having two in the championship final last year.
Courtney Eronemo (4:14.17) and Heather White (4:14.6) finished 7-8 in the championship final of the 400 IM respectively – both times are NCAA provisional marks. Earlier in the preliminaries, White swam a personal-best time of 4:13.41, while Eronemo clocked a personal-best time of 4:13.70 – both times also good for NCAA provisional standards. Also in the prelims, Kelsey Hoff swam a lifetime-best 4:16.20, while Natalie LaRochelle posted a personal-best time of 4:18.46, before eclipsing that mark in the “B” consolation final with a new personal mark of 4:15.12 – also an NCAA provisional time. Freshman Shelley Harper set a new standard in the prelims as well, swimming a personal-best time of 4:18.53, before topping that feat in the “C” final with a time of 4:16.01.
Vollmer nearly had a three-peat in the championship of the 100-yard butterfly, coming in second to Stanford’s Elaine Breeden (50.87) with a time of 51.11. Vollmer’s time of 50.94 in the morning preliminaries was an NCAA Automatic qualifying time. Hannah Wilson lowered her personal-best time (51.82) in the prelims with a third place time and new personal-best 51.24 – also an NCAA Automatic qualifying mark. Wilson placed fifth in last year’s 100 fly at the Pac-10s. Amanda Sims also had a stellar day in the 100 fly as she recorded a personal-best time of 51.63 in the prelims, before lowering it with a fourth place time of 51.59 – another NCAA Automatic qualifying standard. Sims finished fourth in last year’s conference championship in the 100 fly.
Tara Thomas also achieved new heights in the 100 fly with her morning preliminary time of 52.87 and then lowering that mark with a new personal-best time of 52.64 in the “B” consolation final. Ursula Dailey also achieved a new-personal benchmark with a time of 53.28 in the consolation final as well. Both times are considered NCAA provisional marks.
Alexandra Ellis had a great performance in the championship final of the 100-yard breaststroke, placing third with a lifetime-best time of 1:00.51 – third-best mark on Cal’s all-time performance list. Earlier in the prelims, Ellis swam a then personal-best time of 1:00.84. Ellis finished 15th in last year’s conference championship in the 100 breast.
Kirstyn Colonias finished 14th in the “B” final of the 100 breast with a time of 1:03.42. Colonias registered a personal-best time of 1:02.85 in the morning prelims.
Senior Lauren Rogers came so close to making it a three-peat in the championship final of the 100-yard backstroke, finishing second with a time of 51.86 (an NCAA Automatic time), behind Arizona’s Ana Agy who touched the wall first with a time of 51.65.
Mary Beck took eighth place in the 100 back with a time of 53.55.
In the final event of the evening, Cal’s foursome of Rogers, Ellis, Vollmer and Jensen took home a fourth place finish in the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 3:33.71.
Alissa Parker placed 17th on the 3-meter diving board with 210.5 points.
The Pac-10s conclude on Saturday with events in the one-meter diving, 1650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly and 400 free relay.
JULIA SMIT SETS NCAA RECORD TO WIN PAC-10 400 IM TITLE; ELAINE BREEDEN CAPTURES 100 FLY
From Beijing in 2008 to Federal Way in 2009, Stanford juniors and U.S. Olympians Julia Smit and Elaine Breeden continue to amaze. Swimming at the 2009 Pacific-10 Conference championships, Smit won the 400 IM with an NCAA record-time of 4:01.56 - eclipsing the previous mark of 4:02.28 set by Olympic and Stanford legend Summer Sanders in 1992. In the very next race, Breeden won the championship in the 100 fly with a school-record time of 50.87.
A night after setting an American, U.S. Open and NCAA record in the 200 IM (1:53.11), Smit broke the NCAA mark with an electrifying swim in the 400 IM that fell just 1.06 seconds shy of the American standard. Smit, who is the defending NCAA champion in the 400 IM, now has won the event twice at the Pac-10 Championships (also as a freshman in 2007). A five-time Pac-10 champion during her career (200 IM in 2007 and ’09; 400 IM in 2007 and ’09 and the 200 back in 2007), the junior will swim the 100 freestyle and 400 free relay on Saturday.
Breeden, who is the two-time defending Pac-10 champion in the 200 fly, won her first career conference title in the 100 fly by outkicking fellow Olympian Dana Vollmer of Cal. Despite entering the final as the six seed, Breeden swam a great race and touched the wall in 50.87 to edge Vollmer (51.11). That time was an NCAA “A” standard and broke the previous Stanford record of 51.34 set by Misty Hyman in 1998.
Sophomore Kate Dwelley assured that she will compete in the 200 free at the NCAA Championships by clocking an “A” standard time of 1:43.80 to finish third in a tightly-contested race. Junior Whitney Spence placed 12th with a 1:47.57, after checking in with a “B” time of 1:47.08 in the preliminaries. Senior Madeline Rovira also scored for the Cardinal, finishing 23rd with a time of 1:49.18.
Stanford had three swimmers score after Smit in the 400 IM, led by the fourth-place finish of sophomore Liz Smith with an NCAA “B” time of 4:11.07. Freshman Jamie Bruce was 21st (4:20.39), while fellow freshman Jessica Rodriquez finished 24th (4:21.44).
Four Cardinal swimmers recorded “B” times and tallied points in the 100 fly. Freshman Sam Woodward finished 10th (52.45), junior Stefanie Sutton clocked a personal-best 52.91 to place 12th, junior Kelley Hug was 13th with a time of 53.09 (after setting a PR of 52.54 in the prelims) and junior Nilasha Ghosh touched the wall in a PR of 53.55 to finish 16th.
Freshman Betsy Webb led a Stanford contingent in the 100 back, finishing seventh in 53.47. Senior Laura Wadden placed 11th (53.96), Hug was 15th (55.11) and Sutton finished 21st (55.46).
Stanford’s 400 medley relay fell just .05-second of an NCAA “A” time, as the foursome of Webb, Smith, Breeden and Smit finished third in 3:32.61.
On the diving side, junior Carmen Stellar and sophomore Meg Hostage finished 2-3 in the 3-meter competition. Stellar was a mere 1.80 points away from winning her first Pac-10 title, setting a personal championship meet record with a score of 325.90. Hostage was awarded a score of 321.35, while senior Sarah Ohr was 10th (250.35) and freshman Mary Beth Corbett was 13th (230.10).
Stanford remained in third place as a team after the third day of the 2009 Pac-10 Championships with a total of 873 points. California is in first (990.5 points), while Arizona sits in second (937.5).
The championships will wrap up with the fourth and final day on Saturday. Tomorrow’s morning session (11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. PT) will feature preliminaries in the 1,650 freestyle, 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly and platform diving. Saturday’s evening session – the final one of the Pac-10 Championships – will have the finals for those six events and the 400 freestyle relay.
USC Wins Three Pac-10 Titles at Pac-10 Championships; Also Takes Home Men's Pac-10 title
Senior Rebecca Soni, a 2008 Olympic gold medalist, won her fifth Pac-10 career title, freshman diver Victoria Ishimatsu won her first and Troy’s 400 medley relay took home another crown to lead a big day for the No. 11 USC women's swimming and diving team on the third day of the 2009 Pac-10 Swimming and Diving Championships at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatics Center in Federal Way, Wash., on Friday (Feb. 27).
In addition to the titles, USC also posted three other top four finishes. Also, USC freshman diver Harrison Jones won a title on platform during the Pac-10 Men’s Diving Championships, being held concurrently with the women.
Soni won her third career Pac-10 title in the 100 breast and fifth overall in 58.10, going under Tara Kirk’s NCAA and Pac-10 record of 58.41 set in 2003. Senior teammate Katy Houston posted a career-best fourth in the event in a career-best 1:00.66.
Ishimatsu, second in 1-meter a day ago, trailed during the finals of 3-meter until the final dive, which put her over the top for less than a two-point win. Ishimatsu won with 327.70 points to Stanford’s Carmen Stellar’s 325.90.
Capping the women’s team’s title run Friday night was the school record in the 400 medley. Troy entered the event with the fifth-fastest time in the nation, but ahead of them was both Pac-10 rivals Arizona and Stanford. In a dogfight, the group of seniors Kristen Lahey, Soni, freshman Katinka Hosszu and senior Rachael Waller won in 3:31.75, nipping Arizona by 0.03 seconds. Stanford was third almost a second behind.
Hosszu earlier took second in the 400 IM. Hosszu, third in the 500 free, finished second in 4:03.60, crushing USC’s previous school record, a 2004 mark of 2:05.74 held by Kaitlin Sandeno.
Speaking of shattering records, that’s what Lahey did to her own school record in the 100 back in prelims, going 52.15 (the previous mark was 52.99) to qualify second for the finals. In finals, she ultimately finished third in the 100y back for the second consecutive year, this time in 52.32.
USC is in fourth after three of four days. Cal is in first (990.5) while Arizona is second (937.5), Stanford is third (873) and USC fourth (630). Washington is fifth (471), UCLA sixth (445), ASU seventh (364), Oregon State eighth (294) and Washington State ninth (231).
ASU 400 Medley Relay Team Sets New School Record
The Arizona State women’s swimming and diving team set a new school record in day three of the Pac-10 Championships. In addition to the new record, the Sun Devils accumulated eight NCAA consideration times. The Sun Devils stand in seventh with 365 points.
The 400 medley relay team crushed the previous school record. Jamie Martinez, Jordyn Green, Ashton Aubry and Jen Beckberger combined to clock in an NCAA consideration time of 3:35.95. Their time topped the seven-year standing record held by Miranda Shald, Ágnes Kovács, Sarah Baham and Claire Hedenskog. Set in 2002, the previous record was 3:36.56.
Aubry clocked in a personal best of 52.11 in the 100 fly to strengthen her position as second on the ASU 100 fly top 10 list. Her time is an NCAA consideration time. Beckberger placed sixth overall with an NCAA “B” time of 1:46.51.
Martinez moved herself to second on ASU’s all-time list in the 100 back after finishing in 54.08. Her time is an NCAA consideration time. Martinez placed 12th overall. Sasha Stephens also swam in the 100 back, finishing in an NCAA consideration time of 54.97.
Three divers made the finals of the women’s 3-meter springboard. Brittany Jumer placed fourth scoring 305.55. Senior Erin Hobbs, who was runner-up on the 3-meter last season, posted 250.80. Newcomer Marissa Johnson finished eighth. Johnson scored 255.15 in the preliminaries. Two-time Pac-10 platform champion Micky Benedetti fell in quest to take his third title as he placed sixth with 309.20.
Green swam in the final of the 100 breast. The freshman placed eighth after setting a new career-best mark of 1:01.51 in the preliminaries. McDaniel moved up to fifth on ASU’s all-time list in the 100 breast with a personal best 1:02.14. Senior Ilene Lesch also swam her fastest time coming in at 1:03.22. With that time, Lesch entered the top 10 list and now sits at ninth all-time.
The championships conclude tomorrow.
Records Continue to Fall at Pacific-10 Championship
Seven Washington State University records were broken Friday in the third day of the 2009 Pacific-10 Conference Championships bringing the count to 12 broken records over the past three days.
It was déjà vu in the 100 backstroke as senior Afton Pickett and sophomore Rugile Mileisyte mirrored their record-breaking performances from the 2008 Pac-10 Championships. Last year, Pickett broke the school record during the preliminaries while Mileisyte broke the record again the same night during the finals. The two swimmers repeated those results as Pickett broke the 100 back record this morning with a time of 54.91, an NCAA ‘B’ consideration time. Mileisyte then broke the record in tonight’s final with a time of 54.88, also an NCAA ‘B’ consideration time and earning her a second-place finish in the ‘C’ final. Pickett then broke the record again with her leadoff time of 54.77 in the 400 medley relay.
Senior Elyse Peterson led the team with 24 points coming from her sixth-place finish in the 100 breast with a WSU record-breaking performance time of 1:00.92. Peterson also broke the record earlier in the day during the prelims with a time of 1:01.21 breaking the record she set Dec. 5. Both swims earned the senior an NCAA ‘B’ consideration time. Peterson is now ranked in the top 25 in the country in the 100 breast and has an excellent chance at being able to make a trip to the NCAA Championships in March.
Junior Michaela Ahlin broke her own school record in the 400 IM with a time of 4:17.23 during prelims. The finish gave her a ‘B’ final birth. Ahlin went on finish seventh in the ‘B’ final chipping in 12 points toward the Cougars’ total 231 points. Senior Kristin Marceau also swam in the event and had a lifetime best performance moving her up to sixth-place on the Cougar all-time top 10 list (4:28.27).
Another WSU relay record fell today as Pickett, Peterson, Ahlin and Mileisyte shattered the 400 medley relay record with a time of 3:38.08, an NCAA ‘B’ consideration time. The finish earned the team a seventh-place finish in the event and added 46 points to the team total. Pickett, Peterson and Ahlin had set the record previously at the 2008 Pac-10 Championship with the help of Sierra Burton with a time of 3:43.19.
Several other WSU swimmers swam lifetime bests during today’s competition, earning themselves spots on the all-time top 10 lists. Freshman Jessie Craig took the third spot in the 100 breast with her fourth-place finish in the ‘C’ final (1:03.42) followed by teammate junior Shawna Keller who claimed the fourth spot on the list with her fifth-place ‘C’ final finish (1:03.44). Freshman Emma Neely moved into second-place with her fifth-place finish in the ‘C’ final of the 200 free (1:48.36). Sophomore Jennifer Dean took the third spot in the 200 free with her prelim time of 1:50.37. Sophomore Talor Whitaker moved up to fourth in the 100 fly (55.19) while freshman Melissa Bogert moved into sixth (56.32).
“I’m very proud with the way this team is continuing to swim tough and fast,” WSU Head Coach Erica Quam said. “We are having one of the best Pac-10 performances we have ever had and we hope to finish with an outstanding last day.”
The Cougars are currently sitting in ninth-place with 231 points. No. 8 California has taken the lead at the end of day three with 990.5 total points. No. 4 Arizona follows with 937.5 points while No. 2 Stanford rounds out the top three with 873 points.
