Schedule
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Standings
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Pac-12
Stati
stics
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NCAA Statistics
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Record Book
SAN FRANCISCO -
The second weekend features three-game sets for eight of the league's nine teams, with No. 3 UCLA hosting No. 10 Washington, No. 7 Stanford at No. 20 Oregon, Utah at No. 17 Arizona and Oregon State hosting California.
No. 22 Arizona State is in Stillwater, Okla. for four games at the Oklahoma State Mizuno Classic, which includes a date with the host and No. 2 Cowgirls on Friday, March 17 on ESPN+ (12:30 p.m. PT).
The Conference is coming off of a season in which each of its nine programs finished with a record of .500 or better, seven earned NCAA Tournament berths, and three advanced to the Women's College World Series.
RANKINGS ROUNDUP:
Eight of the league's nine teams are receiving votes in the latest
USA Today
/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll
, including six the in the top 25.
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UCLA, which spent a week at No. 1 earlier this season, is No. 3 and followed by No. 7 Stanford, No. 10 Washington, No. 17 Arizona, No. 20 Oregon and No. 22 Arizona State. With 36 points, Utah is third among a group of 12 teams receiving votes and 19 points shy of No. 25 Maryland, while California is also among the 12 with two points.
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The Pac-12's six nationally-ranked teams are the second most in the country, trailing only the 13-team SEC, which has nine.
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Seven Conference teams were in the
USA TODAY
/NFCA preseason poll, the first time since 2013 and 12th time overall that the Pac-12 has had seven ranked teams to open the season, which tied the league's second-most all-time. All eight Pac-10 softball programs were in the preseason Top 25 in 2001.
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ESPN.com/USA Softball
: #3 UCLA, #7 Stanford, #8 Washington, #18 Arizona, #19 Oregon, #25 Utah, RV Arizona State, RV California.
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Utah is ranked in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll for the first time since March 3, 2020.
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D1Softball
: #3 UCLA, #5 Stanford, #12 Washington, #17 Arizona, #21 Oregon, #23 Utah.
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Softball America
: #4 UCLA, #6 Stanford, #13 Washington, #17 Arizona, #21 Oregon, #23 Utah.
NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS:
Through the season's first five weeks, Pac-12 programs have combined to go 156-38 (.804), the best winning percentage in the country ahead of the SEC (.798).
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Last season, Pac-12 teams went 228-68-1 (.769) in non-league games, the second-best mark in the country behind the SEC (342-97; .779).
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The Pac-12 is 16-14 against NFCA-ranked opponents this season. After winning just one of its first seven, the league has gone 15-8 (.652) against ranked foes since.
STANFORD STREAKING:
Winners of 20 in a row, the Cardinal owns the nation's longest active winning streak ahead of Tennessee (15).
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Each of Stanford's last eight victories have been shutouts and the team has not surrendered a run since the second inning of a Feb. 26 game against Michigan, a span of 54 innings.
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The Cardinal's winning streak is its longest since winning 28 consecutive games from Feb. 7 - March 23, 2009.
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Stanford is No. 7 in the NFCA rankings, its best position in the polls since coming in at No. 5 on May 12, 2009.
WEEKLY AWARDS:
For the first time this season, a Pac-12 player did not receive a national weekly award from either the NFCA or D1 Softball.
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Pac-12 players have won six of the 15 national awards (player, pitcher, freshman) handed out by D1 Softball in the season's first five weeks, the most among all leagues (SEC - 4). They've also collected three of the NFCA's 10 national weekly awards thus far (player, pitcher).
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In the Conference last week, Utah's
Ellessa
Bonstrom
was voted Pac-12 Player of the Week, UCLA's
Brooke
Yanez
was Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week and Bruin first-year
Megan
Grant
was Pac-12 Freshman of the Week.
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In five wins, Bonstrom hit .500, blasted three homers, drove in eight runs, scored seven times and posted a 1.286 slugging percentage to become the Utes' second Pac-12 Player of the Week over the past seven seasons along with Julia Jimenez on May 9, 2022.
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Yanez picked up both of UCLA's wins, surrendering one earned run in 11 innings to lead the Bruins to a series victory over California and Grant stretched her RBI total to 32 with six in four games last week. Yanez is 9-0 and one of three pitchers nationally with at least nine wins and zero losses (Hailey Hudson, Grand Canyon - 9-0; Sage Hoover, Texas Tech - 11-0). Grant leads the country's freshman in RBI, five ahead of second-place Leighann Goode of Texas.
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UCLA has won five total weekly Pac-12 honors this year and each has been awarded to a different member of the team, something that has happened six other times in program history and not since 2016 (six awardees in 2008 and 1997; five awardees in 2023, 2016, 2001, 1997 and 1995).
QUICK HITTERS
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ARIZONA:
A Wildcat has led [or co-led] the Pac-12 in home runs in nine consecutive seasons. In five of those years, Arizona also had the runner-up. The Wildcats have hit at least 100 home runs seven times in school history. Only one other school in the country has more than three 100-plus home run seasons. Arizona has five of the top nine home run hitters in NCAA history.
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ARIZONA STATE:
After hitting a program-record 104 home runs in 2022, the Sun Devils have continued to deliver in that department in 2023. With 38 home runs in 21 games, ASU is fourth in the NCAA in total homers while sitting second by hitting 1.81 per game. ASU homered in 17 consecutive games one shy of the program record before being shutout on Friday. At the current pace, the Sun Devils will end the regular season with 85 home runs.
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CALIFORNIA:
The Golden Bears took down then-No. 2 UCLA on March 11, 8-0, for its first win over a top-5 team since 2012. Cal's 80 extra base hits (35 HR, 41 2B, 4 3B) lead the Pac-12. The Bears check in at No. 20 in this week's NCAA RPI ratings, their highest standing since 2018.
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OREGON:
Terra
McGowan
claimed the top spot for catchers in D1 Softballs most recent Player Power Rankings. Despite being just five weeks into the season, the redshirt senior has already set career-highs in home runs (8) and RBI (28). She ranks third in the Pac-12 in home runs and fourth in RBI.
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OREGON STATE:
For the second time in program history, the Beavers made an appearance at the Womens College World Series in 2022. OSU reached the NCAA Tournament five times under head coach Laura Berg. As a program, the Beavers have made 15 total postseason appearances.
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STANFORD:
Stanford has recorded three no hitters this season, two from freshman
NiJaree
Canady
and one nearly perfect game from
Regan
Krause
. The Cardinal has a team ERA of 1.11, which is fourth in the nation, and allowed only 25 runs in 24 games. Stanford's .986 fielding percentage is second in the nation behind Oklahoma.
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UCLA:
The Bruins went 23-1 at home last season with their one loss coming to Utah in the series finale on May 1. UCLA has swept its Conference opponent in each of the last five home-opening series to begin Pac-12 play dating back to 2018 (did not play a Pac-12 series in 2020 due to COVID-19). Since 2018, UCLA is 47-8 in home Conference contests.
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UTAH:
The Utes boast a 19-4 record, their best start to a season since they began 21-4 in 2017.
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WASHINGTON: Baylee
Klingler
is one grand slam away from setting the career program record. The fifth-year senior has five so far - four of which came last season and she had one this year against Hofstra. The reigning Pac-12 Player of the Year is tied for the Conference lead with 38 hits and ranks fourth with a .452 average. She is second in doubles (8) and ninth in home runs (6).
powHER OF THE PAC:
All nine Pac-12 softball programs are led by female head coaches.
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The Pac-12 is one of just two leagues in the country that features exclusively female head coaches (Ivy League).
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Six of the nine are leading their alma maters -
Jessica
Allister
(STAN),
Amy
Hogue
(UTAH),
Kelly
Inouye-Perez
(UCLA),
Caitlin
Lowe
(ARIZ),
Chelsea
Spencer
(CAL) and
Heather
Tarr
(WASH).
PRESEASON PAC-12 COACHES POLL
: For the third consecutive season,
UCLA was voted by the Conferences softball head coaches as the leagues preseason favorite
for the upcoming campaign.
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The Bruins, which have made seven straight trips to the Women's College World Series, collected all eight available first-place votes and totaled 64 points to top the annual poll. It's the first time since 2016 (Oregon) that a Pac-12 team has garnered every available first-place vote. Coaches may not vote for their own teams.
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Stanford was second with 54 points, and followed closely by Washington (53 points), which picked up the remaining first-place vote. Coming off its first Super Regional appearance since 2011, the Cardinal boasts its highest-ever position in the preseason poll. Stanford had been picked third twice previously, in 2002 and 2006.
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Oregon collected 39 points and Arizona 30 to round out the top portion of the rankings. Oregon State was sixth (25 points), California seventh (21 points), Utah eighth (20 points) and Arizona State ninth (18 points).
RETURNING ALL-AMERICANS:
The Pac-12 returns six NFCA All-Americans from a season ago, including the league's reigning Player (
Baylee
Klingler
, WASH) and Pitcher (
Megan
Faraimo
, UCLA) of the Year. In addition to Klingler (first-team All-American) and Faraimo (second-team AA), also back are Arizona State's
Yannira
Acua
(second-team AA), Arizona's
Allie
Skaggs
(second-team AA), California's
Makena
Smith
(third-team AA) and Utah's
Ellessa
Bonstrom
(third-team AA).
PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE:
The Conference's six returning All-Americans are also
featured on the first-ever Preseason All-Pac-12 Team
, which was voted on by the league's head coaches. UCLA has a league-high five players on the team in
Maya
Brady
, Faraimo,
Aaliyah
Jordan
,
Sharlize
Palacios
and
Brooke
Yanez
. Washington is second with four (
Madison
Huskey
, Klingler,
Lindsay
Lopez
,
Sami
Reynolds
).
TOP 100:
Eighteen Pac-12 stars from all nine league programs were included in
D1Softball.com's Preseason Top 100 Player Rankings
, led by Washington's
Baylee
Klingler
, who last season became the Conference's first triple crown winner since 1999 and just third all-time. UCLA landed six players on the list, which tied for the second-most in the country. Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon State and Washington placed two apiece, while California, Oregon, Stanford and Utah each have one.
WATCH LISTS:
Seven Pac-12 student-athletes
appear on the USA Softball Top 50 Collegiate Player of the Year watch list
, the third-most in the country (SEC - 18, Big 12 - 11) -
Maya
Brady
(UCLA),
Megan
Faraimo
(UCLA),
Frankie
Hammoude
(OSU),
Baylee
Klingler
(WASH),
Sharlize
Palacios
(UCLA),
Carlie
Scupin
(ARIZ),
Alana
Vawter
(STAN).
PAC-12 SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT:
Arizona's Hillenbrand Stadium will serve as the host site for the
inaugural Pac-12 Softball Tournament
, which is set to make its debut from May 10-13, 2023. The four-day event will begin with a play-in game between the eighth and ninth-place teams in the regular-season standings on Wednesday. That winner will advance to an eight-team, single-elimination bracket with the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship being contested on the following three days. The winner of the Pac-12 Softball Tournament will receive the Conferences automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
The nations most successful softball conference, Pac-12 programs have combined to win 24 of the 40 NCAA softball championships all-time, 18 more than the next closest league, and all nine Pac-12 teams have made appearances in the Womens College World Series. Of the 13 different programs to have won an NCAA softball championship, five are from the Pac-12: UCLA (12), Arizona (8), Arizona State (2), California (1) and Washington (1).
MORE PAC-12 SOFTBALL:
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
(
Full Schedule
)
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Friday, March 10
|
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#22 Arizona State vs. UCF
Oklahoma State Mizuno Classic; Stillwater, Okla.
|
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10 a.m. PT
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#22 Arizona State at #2 Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State Mizuno Classic; Stillwater, Okla.
|
ESPN+
|
12:30 p.m. PT
|
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#10 Washington at #3 UCLA
|
Pac-12 Network
Pac-12 Los Angeles
Pac-12 Washington
|
5 p.m. PT
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California at Oregon State
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Oregon State Live Stream
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6 p.m. PT
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#7 Stanford at #20 Oregon
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Pac-12 Bay Area
|
6 p.m. PT
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Utah at #17 Arizona
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Pac-12 Arizona
Pac-12 Mountain
|
6 p.m. PT
|
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Saturday, March 18
|
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#22 Arizona State vs. Minnesota
Oklahoma State Mizuno Classic; Stillwater, Okla.
|
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10 a.m. PT
|
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Utah at #17 Arizona
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Pac-12 Arizona
Pac-12 Mountain
|
1 p.m. PT
|
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#7 Stanford at #20 Oregon
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Pac-12 Bay Area
Pac-12 Oregon
|
2 p.m. PT
|
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#10 Washington at #3 UCLA
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Pac-12 Los Angeles
Pac-12 Washington
|
2 p.m. PT
|
#22 Arizona State vs. UCF
Oklahoma State Mizuno Classic; Stillwater, Okla.
|
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3 p.m. PT
|
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California at Oregon State
|
Oregon State Live Stream
|
4 p.m. PT
|
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Sunday, March 19
|
|
|
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California at Oregon State
|
Oregon State Live Stream
|
11 a.m. PT
|
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Utah at #17 Arizona
|
Pac-12 Arizona
|
11 a.m. PT
|
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#7 Stanford at #20 Oregon
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Pac-12 Bay Area
|
noon PT
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#10 Washington at #3 UCLA
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Pac-12 Los Angeles
Pac-12 Washington
|
noon PT
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CONFERENCE STANDINGS
(
Expanded Standings
)
|
Teams
|
Pac-12 Record
|
Overall Record
|
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Utah
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3-0
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19-4
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#3 UCLA
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2-1
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25-2
|
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#10 Washington
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2-1
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21-4
|
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#17 Arizona
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2-1
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19-7
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#22 Arizona State
|
1-2
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16-5
|
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California
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1-2
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19-6
|
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#20 Oregon
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1-2
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18-6
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#7 Stanford
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0-0
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22-2
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Oregon State
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0-3
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9-14
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PAC-12 SOFTBALL WEEKLY AWARDS
|
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Player
|
Pitcher
|
Freshman
|
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Feb. 13
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Maya Brady, UCLA
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Megan Faraimo, UCLA
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Taylor Tinsley, UCLA
|
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Feb. 20
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Jordyn VanHook, ASU
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NiJaree Canady, STAN
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NiJaree Canady, STAN
|
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Feb. 27
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Devyn Netz, ARIZ
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Stevie Hansen, ORE
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Ruby Meylan, WASH
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March 6
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Olivia DiNardo, ARIZ
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NiJaree Canady, STAN
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Olivia DiNardo, STAN
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March 13
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Ellessa Bonstrom, UTAH
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Brooke Yanez, UCLA
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Megan Grant, UCLA
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NATIONAL WEEKLY HONORS