Ivey, Stadden Lead Bears At NCAA Meet Friday

ATLANTA – Cal senior Isabel Ivey claimed second place in the 200-yard freestyle and Isabelle Stadden's lifetime-best lifted her to seventh place in the 100-yard backstroke to highlight the Golden Bears' results on Day 3 of the NCAA Championships Friday.
 
Ivey and Stadden were two of four individuals to earn points for Cal in the finals. Freshman Leah Polonsky took 13th in the 400 individual medley, and junior Ayla Spitz was 13th in the 200 free. In addition, Cal's 400 medley relay placed 12th in its fastest time of the year.
 
Ivey engaged in a battle with Stanford's Taylor Ruck throughout the 200 free final. Swimming in adjacent lanes, the two went stroke for stroke from the start of the race and ahead of the rest of the field. Ruck nudged out Ivey for the title, winning in 1:41.12 to Ivey's 1:41.59, a time that stands as her second best ever.
 
The result gave Ivey her sixth all-time top-five NCAA individual finish and the highest of her career. She was third in the 200 IM Thursday and third in the 100 free last year.
 
Spitz competed in the B final of the 200 free and rose up to 13th from her No. 15 qualifying time, reaching the wall in a season-best 1:44.72.
 
Stadden, racing in lane eight, completed the 100 back in 50.81, which bettered her previous PR of 50.86 and was faster than the 50.87 she swam last March at NCAAs.
 
Polonsky also out-swam her seed time, moving from 16th to 13th in the 400 IM with a time of 4:06.82. It marks her second individual All-America performance after being 12th in the 200 IM earlier in the meet.
 
In the 400 medley relay, the Bears again set a season best, this time in 3:29.21, which rates as the ninth fastest in school history. Stadden led off, and she was followed by Polonsky, Mia Kragh and Ivey.
 
In the team standings, Cal moved up one position from Thursday and is now in sixth place with 136 points. Virginia maintained its lead with Stanford second and Texas third.
 
The NCAA meet concludes on Saturday with the 1650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, platform diving and the 400 free relay. Prelims begin at 7 a.m. PT and will stream live through ramblinwreck.com, with finals starting at 3 p.m. and streamed via espn.com/watch
 
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