STANFORD, Calif. - Freshman Ella Eastin and sophomore Gracia Leydon-Mahoney, who combined for five individual conference championhips last week, were each honored by the Pac-12 on Wednesday. Eastin was selected as the Pac-12 Swimmer of the Month, while Leydon-Mahoney earned the Diver of the Month award.
Leydon-Mahoney won both diving events to lead Stanford over No. 3 Cal on Feb. 13, and then claimed two Pac-12 championships last week. The Newton, Mass., native won the 1-meter and 3-meter to help Stanford clinch an undefeated Pac-12 season with a 172-128 win over the Bears. She then won Pac-12 titles in the 3-meter and platform to help Stanford to a second-place team finish at the championship meet. On the platform, her score of 341.40 was 30-points higher than the runner-up, and earlier in the week, she won the 3-meter event with a score of 379.55. She also placed fourth in the 1-meter to earn a total of 90 points for the Cardinal at the Pac-12 meet.
Eastin won three individual events in that win over No. 3 Cal on Feb. 13. She then won three individual Pac-12 titles and was a member of Stanford’s winning 400-yard freestyle team at the championship meet last week.
Against Cal, Eastin won the 200-yard butterfly, 200 individual medley and 500 freestyle to lead the Cardinal to victory over their biggest rival and clinch a perfect 7-0 Pac-12 regular season. Then at Pac-12’s, Eastin became the youngest women’s swimmer of all-time to break four-minutes in the 400 individual medley and just the seventh to ever do so. Her time of 3:59.30 also set the National Age Group record and currently ranks as the sixth-fastest finish all-time. That time is tops in the nation by an astounding four seconds. In addition, Eastin’s Pac-12 winning time in the 200 IM (1:52.77) is the fastest in the nation this year, while her time in the 200 fly (1:52.01) was nearly two full seconds better than second place and now ranks second in the nation this season. To cap off the meet, the Irvine, Calif., native helped lead Stanford’s 400 free relay team to victory.
.@ella_eastin breaks 4 minutes (3:59.30) to win the #Pac12swim title in the 400 IM! Is that good, @Stanford_W_Swim? pic.twitter.com/N9QBCDq8sg
— Stanford W. Swimming (@stanfordwswim) February 27, 2016
By the Numbers - This was the first career Swimmer of the Month honor for Eastin and Stanford’s 14th all-time, the most in conference history. It was also the first such honor for Leydon-Mahoney and the ninth monthly diving honor in Stanford history.
Up Next - For Leydon-Mahoney and the Stanford divers, the Zone E Diving Championships begin Monday in Flagstaff, Ariz., while the swimmers for the top-ranked Cardinal prepare for the NCAA Championships in Atlanta, Ga., March 16-19.
Follow the Cardinal - You can follow Cardinal women's swimming and diving on instagram, twitter and snapchat at @StanfordwSwim.
#GoStanford
