Corvallis Gazette-Times

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Oregon State sophomore swimmer Saori Haruguchi placed sixth in the 200-yard butterfly and earned All-American honors for the second time this week on Saturday at the NCAA championships at the Minnesota Aquatic Center.

She finished in 1:56.03 and took sixth for the second year in a row.

The Beavers placed 29th in the team competition with 21 points. Auburn was the champion with 535 points.

Haruguchi broke the school record twice on Saturday. Her 1:56.23 clocking broke the old record of 1:56.24 she established at the Pacific-10 Conference meet in February.

She set school records in five of the 14 events this season.

“Saori did a tremendous job this entire season,” OSU coach Larry Liebowitz said. “I can’t wait to see what the team will be like her senior year with the progress the program is making.”

Teammate Kayla Rawlings was 24th in the same event in 1:59.33.

“Kayla had a really nice swim,” Liebowitz said. “The meet was incredibly fast and was competitive in every event.”

Haruguchi, Anna Crandall, Kayla Rawlings, and Crescent Valley graduate Brittney Iverson finished 16th in the 800 freestyle relay (7:16.77) on Friday night and 23rd in the 400 medley relay (3:49.01) on Thursday. Each earned All-American honors in the 800 relay.

“We accomplished one of our goals by qualifying a relay in the NCAAs,” Liebowitz said. “Hopefully we can continue to expand the number of swimmers each year and qualify more relays.”

All nine Pac-10 teams that sponsor swimming finished in the top 35. Arizona was second (477 points), California third (372.5), Stanford fourth (333), UCLA 15th (55.5), Arizona State 16th (55), USC tied for 20th (47), OSU 29th (21), Washington State 34th (10), and Washington 35th (9).