UCLA Edged at Arizona
by uclabruins.com
TUCSON, Ariz. – The UCLA swim and dive team wrapped up its weekend in the desert with a 163.5-138.5 loss to Arizona on Saturday afternoon at the Hillenbrand Aquatic Center.
The Bruins (2-2, 1-2 Pac-12) picked up four individual event wins in the contest, courtesy of Paige MacEachern (1000 free), Rachel Rhee (100 free), Bailey Herbert (200 breast), and Ella Kirschke (200 IM).
MacEachern (500 free), Rhee (200 free), and Herbert (100 breast) all logged up runner-up finishes in other events as well, while Kirschke picked up her third consecutive dual meet win in the 200 IM for UCLA.
After a second-place finish in the 200 medley relay (1:41.54) to start the meet, MacEachern delivered a win for the Bruins in the 1000 free in the first individual event of the afternoon, completing the race in 10:17.91. That time was nearly 15 seconds better than the second-place finisher.
The Bruins finished 2-3-4 in the 100 breast, led by a runner-up finish from Herbert (1:03.17).
Junior Gabby Dang finished in a tie for second place in a mad-dash 50 free, as her 23.53 time was just two-hundredths of a second behind winner Chloe Clark from Arizona.
UCLA had the top-two swimmers in the 100 free, as Rhee (50.86) was followed up by junior Brooke Schaffer (51.17).
Delaney Smith (2:01.54) was the second-place finisher in a 2-3-4 effort for the Bruins in the 200 back.
Herbert (2:16.40) and freshman Ana Jih-Schiff (2:16.73) recorded the two best times in the 200 breast.
The Bruins had their best team showing in the 200 IM, placing each of the top-four finishers. Kirschke was followed in quick succession by Mia Chang (2:04.49), Delaney Smith (2:05.03), and Jih-Schiff (2:05.06).
On the diving side, junior Hannah Butler was UCLA's top finisher in both the 1M (260.65, third) and 3M (277.35, fourth) competitions. Freshmen Zoe Jespersgaard and Maya Salvitti both made their official debuts over the weekend. Jespersgaard was the fourth-place finisher in 1m (259.80) while Salvitti placed fourth in Saturday's platform exhibition (205.45).
UCLA returns to action next weekend at the Trojan Diving Invitational, which runs from Nov. 12-14 at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center.
More Pac-12 Women's Swimming & Diving
Weekly Honors
2021 Pac-12 Diving (M/W) Championships
2021 Pac-12 Women's Swimming Championships
Pac-12 Los Angeles