College Update: Vose leads USC swimming to history

The following are updates on local athletes at the collegiate level.

Kirsten Vose (Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, 2015) USC freshman: A wonderful first collegiate season continued for the three-time All-Area Girls’ Swimmer of the Year at the NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship, which ran from March 16 to the 19th at Georgia Tech.

Vose was part of Trojans history when she swam an important leg of the USC 400-yard freestyle relay, which won the school’s first-ever 400 relay title.

The Trojans captured the crown with a school-best mark of 3 minutes 09.69 seconds, which blasted the school’s previous-best time of 3:10.97, set at the preliminaries.

The Trojans, who won the Pacific 12 Conference crown in February, took sixth overall with 244.5 points, which trailed winner Georgia (414 points) and two Pac-12 schools in Stanford (395, second) and California (358, third).

Vose was her squad’s No. 2 swimmer and took over with USC trailing Georgia by 1.15 seconds. Vose trimmed the deficit to .54 seconds, which helped lead to the foursome’s ultimate victory.

Overall, Vose was involved in four championship events, finishing eighth in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:10.42). Vose also took third in the 200 IM in 1:54.27 and was part of the Trojans’ runner-up 800 freestyle relay squad (6:53.84).

“I just hoped to make it back each night in my events and just do the best I could and just stay calm,” Vose told the school’s website. “I wasn’t really thinking about anything before my swim. (I just had) too much adrenaline. I was just ready to go.”

Vose was selected an All-American in all four events.

Kayla Grahn (Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, 2015) Georgetown University freshman: The freshman capped a successful inaugural season at the Big East Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Ocean Breeze Park Track and Field Athletic Center in Staten Island, NY on Feb. 27.

Grahn finished eighth in the one-mile championship run with a personal-record time of 5 minutes, 00.32 seconds, which was just bested by sophomore teammate Aleta Looker (seventh, 4:57.75). Grahn’s mark easily surpassed her previous-best time by more than five seconds.

The seventh-place finish also fetched the Hoyas a point as the squad placed fourth in the conference with 112 points, which trailed Marquette (168.5), St. John’s (150) and Villanova (133.5).

Previously, Grahn finished fifth in the mile (5:07.62) at the Penn State National Invitational on Jan. 30 and 18th in 5:05.84 at the Penn State Tune-Up on Feb. 20.

Johnny Brandt (St. Francis, 2014) Claremont-Mudd-Scripps golf: The Glendale resident has been a driving force for the Staggs this season.

Claremont took third with 905 points at the West Cup at the Sierra La Verne Country Club in La Verne, which ended Tuesday afternoon.

Claremont tied with Redlands for third, while Brandt individually finished with a three-round score of 19-over-par 229, which tied him for 15th overall, while he was second for the Staggs.

Brandt’s best effort came on Monday morning, when he shot a 74. He followed that effort with a 79 on Monday evening and a 76 on the final day.

Prior to Tuesday’s effort, the Staggs finished fourth at the Jekyll Island College Invitational in Georgia, which concluded March 20.

Claremont finished with an even-par 864, which was just off the pace of winner LaGrange College (859).

Brandt was his team’s No. 4 placer, finishing with a five-over-par 221, which tied him for 47th.

Karina Moreno (Hoover High, 2015) Pasadena City College freshman: The shortstop and leadoff batter is leading the Lancers with a .398 batting average through 30 contests this season.

Overall, Moreno paces Pasadena City College in hits (35), runs (24), walks (17), on-base percentage (.505) and is second in slugging percentage (.455) while she’s added three doubles and a triple and has only struck out five times in 88 at-bats.

Perhaps Moreno’s best week this season came between March 13-20, which consisted of the four-game, two-day-long Santa Barbara Beach Bash Tournament that concluded on March 20 and two South Coast Conference contests prior.

Moreno finished eight for 12 in the tournament and 12 for 17 combined with the previous two contests combined.

Moreno’s average of .706 was backed with eight runs, five stolen bases, a triple and five walks.

For the season, the Lancers are 17-13 overall and 7-6 in conference, which ties them for fourth in the South Coast Conference.

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Andrew J. Campa, andrew.campa@latimes.com

Twitter: @campadresports