Claire Weinstein Makes College Debut as Cal Leads Stanford at Triton Invitational
Claire Weinstein won the 500 freestyle in her first collegiate race as Cal leads Stanford in both men’s and women’s after the first day of the Triton Invitational hosted by UC San Diego.
Cal has 1,061 points after one session in La Jolla, with 481 points to lead Stanford’s 368 on the women’s side. Cal’s me have 580 points, well ahead of the University of Hawaii.
Weinstein, the Olympic silver relay medalist, went 4:37.14 to win the 400 freestyle. That time paced a Cal sweep of the top four spots, with Ella Cosgrove second in 4:39.47, followed by Camille Henveaux and Alexa McDevitt. Weinstein went 2:00.40 to finish fourth in the 200 butterfly later on Night 1 of the meet.
The other big name involved was Torri Huske, the Olympic gold medalist going 22.06 to win the 50 free with ease. Her time was three-quarters of a second ahead of Cal’s Mia West, with Stanford freshman Annam Olasewere third in 22.91. Huske also split 22.60 on the Stanford women’s 200 medley relay.
Cal’s Mary-Ambre Moluh won the 100 backstroke in 52.63, her winning margin 1.7 seconds over the field. The French Olympian split 24.19 off the front of Cal’s 200 medley relay, teaming with Silje Slyngstadli, Annie Jia and West to win in 1:37.69, still a half-second clear of Stanford.
Cal’s Ava Chavez won the 200 individual medley in 1:59.29, the only swimmer to break two minutes.
Samantha Banos of UC Santa Barbara picked up a significant win in the 200 fly. She went 1:57.88, besting the likes of Caroline Bricker (1:57.97) and Lucy Bell (1:58.30) of Stanford with Weinstein fourth.
On the men’s side, Ryan Erisman opened his college career with a win in the 500 free in 4:15.50, which is exactly a second off his best time. Cal took the top five spots, with Norvin Clontz seven seconds back of Erisman in second. Keaton Jones went 4:25.80 for third.
Cal’s Lucca Battaglini won the 100 back in 48.21, trailed by Tommy Roder and Evan Petty. Casper Puggaard debuted with Cal by winning the 200 fly in 1:43.90, more than two seconds ahead of teammate August Vetsch.
Hawaii picked up two wins. Mario Surkovic went 1:47.44 to win the 200 IM, edging Cal’s Yamato Okadome by .15 seconds. Veteran sprinter Karol Ostrowski went 19.73 to win the 50 free, edging Cal’s Nans Mazellier, who went 19.99.
