LAS VEGAS – No. 6 Stanford punctuated the fall portion of its schedule with a win at the three-day UNLV Invitational, which concluded Saturday evening at Buchanan Natatorium.
The Cardinal men’s swimmers shelved 1,262 points for the victory, far beyond second-place UNLV (748) and bronze-worthy Wyoming (370).
“I’m proud of the way the team handled our first road trip,” Goldman Family Director of Men’s Swimming Ted Knapp said. “The conditions the team battled through will be valuable as we get into our championship season. We had some bright spots in all events but need to focus on getting better through both training and technique.”
While its swimmers were in Las Vegas, the Cardinal divers competed at the Art Adamson Invitational hosted by Texas A&M at the Student Rec Center Natatorium.
Kristen Ipsen (407.50) won the 1-meter ahead of teammate Connor Kuremsky (378.15). Bradley Christensen (363.70) tied for fourth.
Ipsen was silver off the 3-meter board with 405.40 points with Christensen (402.85) taking third. The Cardinal had five divers finish in the top 10 of the event.
Larry Reinhard, Jr. (254.10) was also 10th off the platform.
“We were looking forward to this weekend and performed fairly. We still have a lot of work ahead to reach our goals and the NCAAs,” head diving coach Rick Schavone said.
Stanford opened the UNLV Invite by placing second in the 200 free relay (1:19.81) but responded by taking the top four spots in the 500 free paced by Drew Cosgarea’s 4:19.63. Cosgarea added a win in the 400 IM (3:44.32).
Tom Kremer (1:46.27) and Max Williamson (1:46.41) went 1-2 in the 200 IM and 14 of the top 20 performers in the 50 free were of the Cardinal variety. David Nolan’s 19.72 was good for second in the finals.
Nolan (1:42.40) came back to win the 200 back in front of Cosgarera (1:43.21) and Will Gunderson (1:45.57). Williamson (1:58.97) struck gold in the 200 breast and Kremer did the same with a 1:45.40 in the 200 fly.
A win in the 400 medley relay (3:10.58) came before a second-place dash in the 200 medley relay (1:26.93).
Connor Black (47.32) captured the 100 fly. Thomas Stephens (1:36.60) repped the visitors by taking second in the 200 free, with Mason Shaw doing the same in the 100 breast (54.37) and Gunderson replicating in the 100 back (48.60).
Stephens (44.25) was fourth in the 100 free.
After winning the 800 free relay (6:30.23) by over seven seconds, Danny Thomson (15:08.21) won the 1,650 free as four Cardinal claimed as many top spots in the event.
The Cardinal divers will compete in the USA Winter National Championships (Dec. 15-20) in Austin, Texas, while the swimmers resume action at home against Pacific on Jan. 11.
