AUSTIN, Texas – David Nolan broke his own school record in the 200 back, going 1:39.17 for third in the event Saturday to conclude the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.
Nolan, who bettered his 1:39.31 set at last season’s NCAA Championships, directed Stanford (155) to a ninth-place showing at the national meet. It marked the 34th consecutive top-10 finish for the Cardinal, which went 7-1 in dual meets and secured a second-place showing at the Pac-12 Championships this season.
“We competed well enough to stay in the top 10, but our performance came up short of representing our talent,” said Ted Knapp, Stanford’s Goldman Family Director of Men’s Swimming. “We know we will be more competitive next year.”
Cal captured the team title by surpassing host Texas on the final night of competition as the Golden Bears (468.5) outlasted the Longhorns (417.5). Florida (387) was third and defending champion Michigan was fourth at 310.
Nolan finished behind Cal’s Ryan Murphy and Indiana’s Eric Ress (1:38.69) in the 200 back, with the former claiming the NCAA record in 1:37.35. Nolan dropped a half second from his prelims time to grab his second top-3 finish on the week.
Going the distance in the 1,650 free was Danny Thomson, whose underwater skills advanced him to win his heat and take 14th in 14:52.17.
Tom Kremer added another All-America accolade to his name with a 1:44.27 in the 200 fly for 13th.
Off the platform, Kristian Ipsen had 384.80 points in the finals for sixth. Ipsen has nine All-America honors in as many chances at the NCAA Championships.
Noah Garcia finished just outside the money in 17th with 327.95 points.
Duke’s Nick McCrory used his final dive to defend his platform title, scoring a perfect 10 from one judge on his last attempt. McCrory’s 454.85 was just more than two points better than Arizona’s Rafael Quintero (452.40).
“It was a fair day and a fair meet,” said head diving coach Rick Schavone. “We dove pretty well the last three days, but when we needed 7’s we scored 6’s. That kept a very good team that was diving very well from reaching our goals.”
Stanford closed its season with an All-America honorable mention performance in the 400 free relay when Chris Pickard, Kremer, Thomas Stephens and Drew Cosgarea tag-teamed the course in 2:53.41 for 16th overall.