Cal, Stanford shine at NCAAs

Franklin wins 200 IM; Stanford wins historic relay

Cal and Stanford both made a big splash to open the NCAA women’s swimming and diving championships on Thursday.

Both schools won a pair of national championships and had record-setting performances at Greensboro, North Carolina.

Cal is in second place with 162 points, 10 behind Georgia through six events. Stanford is third with 111 points. The meet concludes Saturday.

Missy Franklin led the way for the Bears in her final collegiate meet, helping set a school record in the 200 free relay and leading a 1-2 finish with Elizabeth Pelton in the 200-yard individual medley.

“It means so much to me,” said Franklin, whose 1 minute, 52.11 seconds finish was third-fastest in history. “It’s just really cool thinking about all the training that I’ve done and being able to do an event kind of out of my specialty and be able to win it, especially with Liz getting second.”

Franklin teamed with Kaylin Bing, Rachel Bootsma and Farida Osman in the 200 free relay, a come-from-behind win over Stanford.

Cal’s Cierra Runge was second in the 500 free and Osman was fourth in the 50 free.

Stanford freshman Simone Manuel won the 50 free in 21.32 seconds, second-fastest ever, then anchored the Cardinal in a record-setting finish in the 400 medley relay.

The team of Alley Howe, Katie Olsen, Janet Hu and Manuel won in 3:26.41, lowering the American and NCAA record of 3:27.51 set last year by the Cardinal.

Virgina and Cal also broke last year’s mark in the race.

“It was a very impressive performance,” by all three squads,” Stanford coach Greg Meehan said. “Simone’s … capable of doing some pretty crazy things. To get her hand on the wall first was an amazing thing for our program and for our fans to celebrate that.”

Stanford’s Kassidy Cook was second in the 1meter diving.

San Jose State fresh- man Morgan McCormick was 63rd in the 200 IM.

Wrestling

Stanford’s Garrett Schaner and Jim Wilson advanced in the NCAA tournament on Thursday at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.

Unseeded Schaner started the day by upsetting sixth-seeded Alec Pantaleo of Michigan with an 11-10 decision at 149 pounds, then lost 7-2 decision to 11th-seeded Tywan Claxton of Ohio.

He’ll participate in wrestlebacks on Friday.

Wilson, the No. 10 seed at 165 pounds, lost 4-1 to seventh-seeded Pierce Harger of Northwestern. He’ll also participate in the wrestlebacks on Friday.

Evan Silver (125), Connor Schram (122) and Nathan Butler (285) were eliminated.

Women’s basketball

Taj Winston scored 21 points, but USF’s season ended in a 79-73 loss at Fresno State in the WNIT. The Dons (19-14) had their best record since 1996-97.