The Golden Bears won nine of 16 events at the Avery Aquatic Center on Saturday as No. 10 Stanford fell to its cross-bay rival 178-117. Despite the Cardinal posting 19 NCAA provisional standards, it was not enough to upset No. 1 California in the team’s third meeting of the season.
The other two meets, which took place on Nov. 15 and Nov. 21, were unscored, making Saturday’s meet the first official competition of the season for the Cardinal.
The Golden Bears won the first event of the meet, the 200-yard medley relay, but five-time All-American junior Morgan Tankersley claimed the Cardinal’s first win of the day shortly thereafter in the 1000-yard freestyle. Tankersley finished in 9:41.41, more than two seconds ahead of California’s Sarah Dimeco.
The Bears claimed the next nine events until junior Allie Raab won the 200-yard breaststroke by over two seconds while earning an NCAA provisional mark. Senior Brooke Forde followed Raab with her first win of the day in the 12th event, the 500-yard freestyle. Forde also won her event by over two seconds, completing her swim in 4:40.35 for a NCAA B standard. Forde is an 11-time All-American and three-time national champion, including one NCAA title in the 500-yard freestyle in 2019.
Senior Mia Paulsen, the 2020 Pac-12 Diver of the Year, claimed victory in the three-meter diving after finishing third in the one-meter earlier in the day. Junior Daria Lenz finished second in the one-meter and third in the three-meter, while sophomore Julia Wortman finished fifth and fourth in the one-meter and three-meter dives, respectively.
In the final event of the day, Stanford’s 200-yard freestyle relay team of junior Anya Goeders, sophomore Emma Wheal, senior Lauren Green and senior Lauren Pitzer claimed a .42 second win over California while hitting the NCAA provisional standard.
Senior Hannah Kukugurya finished second in the 200-yard butterfly and third in the 200-yard IM, just behind second-place Forde. Seniors Katie Glavinovich and Ashley Volpenhein represented the Cardinal in two and three events, respectively, with Volpenhein scoring in each of her events and earning an NCAA B standard in 200 IM. Senior Grace Zhou did not compete in the meet.
On a schedule condensed due to the persisting COVID-19 pandemic, Saturday’s action marks the end of the Cardinal’s regular season. Next up for Stanford are the Pac-12 Championships on Feb. 24-27, during which the divers will travel to Tucson, Ariz. while the swimmers compete in Houston, Texas.
Contact Sofia Scekic at sscekic ‘at’ stanford.edu.