FEDERAL WAY, Wash. – No. 1 Stanford sits in second place at the Pac-12 Swimming and Diving Championships after Day 3 of racing at the King County Aquatic Center.
"Today was a great day of racing and it will really battle test us for NCAA's," said Goldman Family Director of Men's Swimming Ted Knapp. "We were good in some, but others we know what we need to do to get better. It's always great to see a few more swimmers earn a trip to NCAA's."
Curtis Ogren (3:40.25) dropped over one second from his prelim time in the 400-yard individual medley to claim second, with Alex Liang (3:43.89) placing fourth to start the Cardinal scoring.
Andrew Liang's NCAA A-cut 45.58 in the 100-yard butterfly was good for fourth, as Brad Zdroik (45.79) touched sixth.
In the 200-yard freestyle, four Cardinal earned points in the B-final, led by 10th-place Grant Shoults (1:35.20). Liam Egan (1:36.05) was 13th, James Murphy (1:36.31) was 15th and Cole Cogswell finished 16th.
Three Cardinal earned spots in the final heat of the 100-yard breaststroke, punctuated by Matt Anderson's 52.37 bronze-worthy performance. Hank Poppe (52.66) was fourth and Brennan Pastorek (53.14) was seventh.
Ryan Dudzinski went 46.02 in the 100-yard backstroke, finishing fifth as Stanford's only A-finalist. The Cardinal capped the evening with a third-place finish in the 400-yard medley relay. Stanford's team of Dudzinski, Anderson, Liang and Sam Perry (3:06.01) swam an NCAA A-cut for the podium finish.
Cal (667) leads the six-team field heading into the final day of competition at Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center. Stanford (544) is second with USC (411.33) rounding out the top three.
No. 1 Stanford aims for its third straight Pac-12 Championship tomorrow night, with preliminary swims set for 11 a.m. PT. Prelims include the 200-yard backstroke, 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard breaststroke and 200-yard butterfly. Prelims for the 1,650-yard freestyle will start at 4 p.m., and the final heat will open the 6 p.m. finals session, which also includes the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Coverage of the evening session will air on Pac-12 Networks, with coverage of all sessions available at Pac-12.com/now. Live results will be available at GoStanford.com.
Cardinal Notes
- Curtis Ogren's time in the 400 IM was a personal best – he sits second, all-time, behind Abrahm DeVine.
- Alex Liang lowered his personal best in the 400 IM, moving up to eighth on the all-time list.
- Anderson's time in the 100 breast moved him up to third on the all-time list.
- Hank Poppe's time in the 100 breast was a personal best, moving into fifth, all-time.
- Andrew Liang lowered his personal best in the 100 fly, sitting fourth on the all-time list.