SWIMMING / PACIFIC 10 CHAMPIONSHIPS : Stanford Women Victorious Again

Stanford won 15 of the 18 events, including five of six races Tuesday night, to claim its seventh consecutive Pacific 10 Conference women’s swimming championship at Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach.

The Cardinal’s 400-yard freestyle relay team of Mary Edwards, Lea Loveless, Janel Jorgensen and Jenny Thompson combined for a meet record 3 minutes 19.85 seconds in the meet’s final event.

The defending NCAA champions accumulated 1,069 points. UCLA was second with 1,018 points, USC sixth with 480.5.

“We have good depth and we have good quality,” Stanford Coach Richard Quick said. “We need to get better between now and (the) NCAAs, and I think we can.”

The Cardinal entered the meet with eight qualifiers for the NCAA championships March 18-20 in Minneapolis and emerged with 15 when Edwards, Lori Heisick, Jane Skillman, Katherine Comanor, Tammy Shannon, Laura Gandrud and Pam Minthorn joined 1992 Olympians Loveless and Thompson, ’88 Olympian Jorgensen, Lisa Jacob, Kendra Thayer, Becky Crowe, Julie Kole and Mary Ellen Blanchard, granddaughter of former Heisman Trophy winner Doc Blanchard.

“That is what we needed,” Loveless said. “This meet is not won by the people who win the individual events. Every point counts.”

Loveless and Jorgensen were the only undefeated swimmers during the three-day meet. Loveless, an Olympic gold and bronze medalist and the American record-holder in the 100-meter backstroke, won the 100 and 200 backstroke events and swam legs on all five of Stanford’s winning relay teams.

Jorgensen won the 200 individual medley, both butterfly races and swam on four of the relay teams to finish as the meet’s high-point winner with 90 points. Loveless and Thompson scored 87 each and UCLA freshman Richelle Depold finished with 84.

Loveless defended her 200 backstroke title Tuesday by 2.41 seconds, winning in 1:55.73.

Jorgensen took the 200 butterfly in 1:56.97, an event in which the Cardinal placed 1-2-5-6.

In the 100-yard freestyle, Thompson, the world record-holder in the 100-meter freestyle, gained a slight lead over Depold at the 60 mark to defend her title in 49.22, to Depold’s 49.78.

For the second consecutive night, Arizona State’s Beata Kaszuba, a freshman from Poland, ended Heisick’s lock on a conference breaststroke title. Kaszuba passed Heisick, a three-time Pac-10 200 breaststroke champion, at the 170 mark and prevailed in a meet record 2:13.04. Heisick, who had a full second lead at the 100, was second in 2:14.93.