Oct. 16, 2011

2011 Pan Am Games Schedule/Results

GUADALAJARA, Mexico - The official first day of competition at the 2011 Pan Am Games took place Saturday in Guadalajara, Mexico, and a pair of Stanford swimmers, Julia Smit '10 and Elaine Breeden '10, grabbed the first medals for the Cardinal contingent.

Smit captured gold in the 400-meter individual medley while Breeden took bronze in the 100-meter butterfly. Also in action for Stanford were Lily Lorentzen (squash) as well as a trio of women's volleyball players.

Women's Swimming
Smit and Breeden captured the first two medals among Stanford athletes Friday. Smit wasted no time establishing herself as the clear favorite in the 400 IM, cruising to the top qualifying time (4:51.78) by two seconds over American teammate Allysa Vavra.

In the final, Smit was challenged by Brazil's Joanna Maranhao, but managed to hold off the Brazilian by .18 of a second with a gold medal-winning time of 4:46.15 to Maranhao's 4:46.33. Vavra finished third.

In the 100 fly competition, Breeden qualified for the final with the second-best time (59.23), behind fellow American Claire Donahue. In the final, Donahue would capture gold with a time of 58.73, while Breeden's time of 59.81 earned her the bronze behind Donahue and Brazil's Daynara de Paula (59.30).

Women's Squash
Lily Lorentzen '09 began squash play in the second round of the women's tournament Saturday. Unfortunately, Lorentzen's medal hopes were dashed as the fell to Brazil's Theisa Serafini by a score of 3-1 (11-9, 7-11, 11-4, 11-5).

Women's Volleyball
The U.S. women's volleyball team features three Cardinal alumnae at the Pan Ams, Cynthia Barboza '09, Alix Klineman '11 and Cassidy Lichtman '11. The U.S. cruised to a 3-0 win (25-17, 25-18, 25-14) over Puerto Rico in its Group B opener Saturday.

Barboza recorded nine kills and three blocks to pace the U.S. effort, while Lichtman had five kills and recorded an ace.

The U.S. continues Group B play against Peru Sunday at 11 a.m. PT.