FEDERAL WAY, Wash.
Day one of the 2023 Pac-12 Womens Swimming and Mens & Womens Diving Championships kicked off on Wednesday with the mens 1-meter dive and a pair of women's relays to cap the evening.
USC
freshman
Laurent Gosselin-Paradis
came away victorious in the men's 1-meter
, earning the Trojans' first medal of the mens two-week championship run.
California
opened the 2023 Women's Championship with a win in the 200 Medley Relay and followed with a runner-up finish in the 800 Free Relay.
Stanford
finished in reverse order in the events, taking second in the 200 Medley before winning the 800 Free with the top time in the NCAA this season. The two squads are tied with 120 points heading into day two on Thursday.
CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES:
Womens 200 Medley Relay
-
In the first event of the women's competition, the Cal Bearss
Isabelle Stadden
,
Jade Neser
,
Mia Kragh
, and
Mckenna Stone
picked up a win in the womens 200 Medley Relay with a final time of 1:35.40.
-
Putting their team up 64 points from the get-go, the Bears were quick to win, beating their season-best time in the event (
1:35.62)
.
-
The defending Pac-12 Champions Stanford were hot on Cals tail, finishing just .02 seconds behind the champs (1:35.42). The team of three seniors and one freshman,
Claire Cuzan
,
Allie Raab
,
Emma Wheal
, and
Taylor Ruck
, topped their regular season time of 1:35.94.
-
USCs
Aria Bernal
,
Kaitlyn Dobler
,
Anicka Delgado
and
Elise Garcia
took an equally close third place, swimming a 1:35.63.
Womens 800 Free Relay
-
No. 3 Stanford set a new 2022-23 record in the 800-yard medley, swimming a 6:53.90 and passing up Virginia with the fastest time in the country (6:55.15).
-
Morgan Tankersley
,
Torri Huske
,
Lillie Nordmann
and
Kayla Wilson
finished a whole five seconds faster than their closest competitor, topping their season best by three seconds (
6:56.45)
.
-
Huske is now a back-to-back Conference Champion in the event.
-
Cal earned themselves their second podium finish of the womens competition, taking second place with
Mia Motekaitis
,
Ayla Spitz
,
Leah Polonsky
and
Rachel Klinker
swimming a final time of 6:58.62.
Mens 1-Meter:
-
Freshman
Laurent Gosselin-Paradis
, picked up his first-ever Pac-12 Championship title with a final score of 354.80.
-
Earning himself an NCAA qualifying standard in the process, Gosselin-Paradis claimed the USC 13th 1-meter win, and first since 2011 (Harrison Jones).
-
Competing in the event five times over the 2022-23 season, his performance in the championship earned him his highest score of the season and his first win.
-
Stanfords
Jack Ryan
, hot off of four Pac-12 Diver of the Week awards, took home second with a score of 340.15 while Utahs
Elias Peterson
finished third with a score of 337.95.
-
All three men walked away with NCAA qualifying standards on the boards.
Womens Team Scores
California - 120
Stanford - 120
USC - 106
Arizona State - 104
UCLA - 102
Arizona - 96
Washington State - 92
Utah - 44
HOW TO WATCH
Thursday, Feb. 23
6 pm PT - Pac-12 Mountain, Pac-12 Now, Pac-12.com
Friday, Feb. 24
6 pm PT - Pac-12 Washington, Pac-12 Now, Pac-12.com
Saturday, Feb. 25
6 pm PT - Pac-12 Arizona, Pac-12 Bay Area, Pac-12 Los Angeles, Pac-12 Mountain, Pac-12 Washington, Pac-12 Now, Pac-12.com