March 6, 2013
FEDERAL WAY, Wash. - Sitting in second place heading into the final day of the Pac-12 Conference Men's Swimming and Diving Championships, Stanford's valiant comeback effort fell short as the Cardinal finished second Wednesday evening at the King County Aquatic Center.
Stanford received impressive wins from Drew Cosgarea (1,650 free) and David Nolan (200 back) as its streak of 31 consecutive Pac-12 titles was snapped.
Cal, the two-time defending NCAA champion, won the title with 825 points and Stanford collected 800 points for second. USC (638.5) was third and Arizona (483) finished fourth. It was Cal's first title since 1981.
Utah (290.5), Arizona State (257), UC Santa Barbara (230) and Cal Poly (112) rounded out the eight-team field.
Stanford now looks ahead to the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships (March 28-30) in Indianapolis.
Cosgarea (14:49.71) topped the podium in the mile and Danny Thomson (15:03.39) earned the bronze in his Pac-12 debut. Bryan Offutt (15:07.75) brought home fifth-place points.
Cosgarea lowered his lifetime best of 14:51.26 set at the 2012 NCAA Championships and moved just outside the all-time top 40 in the event.
Nolan added another Pac-12 title to his resume with a meet-record 1:40.39 in the 200 back. Nolan's time bested the 1:40.51 set by current Stanford volunteer assistant coach Eugene Godsoe in 2009. Matt Thompson (1:43.04) was fifth, Matthew Swanston (1:43.39) was sixth and Will Gunderson (1:44.40) took eighth in the race as Stanford trimmed Cal's lead to 15 points.
In the 100 free, Aaron Wayne (42.48) took second with Andrew Saeta (43.33) touching fifth to narrow Cal's gap over the Cardinal to 673-662.
Cal broke away from the pack by placing three in the top six of the 200 breast, with Mason Shaw (1:56.35) representing the Cardinal with a seventh-place swim. NCAA and American record holder Kevin Cordes of Arizona won the event in 1:52.96.
Mack Montgomery (1:44.89).
Stanford gained ground with an NCAA A-cut 2:51.18 in the 400 free relay. Nolan, Wayne, Kremer and Wayne slammed in for second to end the meet.
-- #goStanford --