Sprint Depth Leads Arizona Past UCLA
Arizona put its sprint depth to good use Saturday, with a 1-2 finish in the 200 freestyle relay needed to seal a 160-139 win over UCLA in a battle of former Pac-12 schools.
Arizona held a slim lead heading into the concluding relay and just needed to make sure UCLA didn’t win it to have a chance to take the meet in Tucson. That meant Riley Botton, who had finished third in the 50 free and 100 free, and 200 free winner Kayman Neal were shuttled to the ostensible B team. With Botton’s split of 21.90, that team ended up winning, with the A team finishing second to ensure the victory. Bottom’s squad with Patricija Kondraskaite and Meric Demirtee finished in 1:30.05, three tenths up on the A squad and seven tenths clear of UCLA’s best quartet.
Julia Wozniak, who split a race-best 21.73 on the A team, had won the 50 free in 22.10 and was second in the 100 free. The second-place 200 free relay included three swimmers who had opened the meet with a win in the 200 medley, Wozniak joined by Eleni Gewalt and Maryam Sheikhalizadehkhangh.
Neal went 1:46.51 to win the 200 free in a 1-2 with Demirtepe. Gewalt’s 59.77 claimed the 100 breast. Malia Rausch won the 500 free, and Zara Ayazi supplied a boost by scoring 277.80 to win 3-meter diving.
UCLA ended up winning nine of 16 events. Rosie Murphy led the way. She went 1:53.17 to edge out Neal in the 200 backstroke, then 1:57.09 to claim the 200 individual medley. She was also second to teammate Claudia Yovanovich in the 100 breast by .03 seconds, Yovanovich winning in 52.43.
Second to Murphy in the IM was Ashley Kolessar, who won the 200 fly in 2:00.38 and finished second in the 500 free. Applejean Gwinn opened with a win in the 1,000 free. Jada Duncan’s time of 48.52 in the 100 free beat Wozniak by a tenth and started a run of three straight Bruins wins. Murphy followed in the 200 back, then Sara Bennetts by going 2:12.22 in the 200 breast.
Duncan, who had been second in the 50 free, added the 100 fly title. Molly Brascia and Eden Cheng each scored 303 points to go 1-2 in 1-meter diving for the Bruins.
