Feb. 29, 2012
EAST LOS ANGELES-- Defending conference champion Stanford is in first place at the Pac-12 Conference Championships following a win in the 800 free relay and second place showing in the 200 medley relay.
The Cardinal secured 74 points after the first day, slightly ahead of Cal (72 points) and USC (64).
In winning the program's 12th 800 free relay title all-time, David Mosko touched the wall .72 seconds ahead of USC as Stanford finished at 6:18.99. USC was second (6:19.71) and Cal was third at 6:19.71 after leading over the first 200 yards. Senior Rob Andrews took the lead away for the Bears at the 350 mark, giving it off to freshman Thomas Stephens with a .40 advantage. Stephens then extended the lead, by a half second over Cal and eight-tenths of a second over USC. Mosko finished it off from there, as the Cardinal bettered its season mark by nearly 10 seconds.
In the 200 medley relay, Aaron Wayne shaved .13 seconds off of Cal's lead over the final 50 yards to finish with a time of 1:25.46, second only to the Bears' mark of 1:25.09.
Stanford freshman David Nolan led after the first 50 yards of the backstroke, before Cal's Nolan Koon overtook Curtis Lovelace in the breast, pushing the Cardinal to third. Tom Shields extended the lead in the butterfly for Cal, before Stanford senior Aaron Wayne pushed the Cardinal ahead eventual third place Arizona (1:25.60).
Stanford has won the last 30-straight conference titles. This year's event moved up the freeway to East Los Angeles due to last second repairs at Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach. The event runs through Saturday.
Pac-12 Championships
Live Results: http://www.socalswim.org/htresults/2012MensPac12/
Wednesday
200 Medley Relay: Winner-- California, 1:25.09, 2. Stanford (Nolan, Lovelace, Lane, Wayne), 1:25.46
800 Free Relay: Winner-- Stanford (Nolan, Andrews, Stephens, Mosko), 6:18.99