STANFORD, Calif. - Back at Avery. The Stanford women's swimming team will host Texas at noon on Saturday, and an autograph session immediately following the meet. Admission is free to both events, and the meet will be broadcast live on GoStanford.com.
WATCH: For those that can't make it to The Farm, the meet will be live streamed here.
AUTOGRAPHS AND GIVEAWAY: Following the meet, fans will be able to collect autographs from the entire Stanford women's swimming team. There will be a commemorative team poster giveaway for the autograph session..
MATCHUP: Stanford (2-0) and Texas (5-0) met each Fall from 2012-14, and each time the visiting team pulled out the victory in the final event. In the lastest encounter, on Oct. 30, 2014, the Longhorns came from behind to beat the No. 13-ranked Cardinal, 156-144, at Avery Aquatic Center. Texas took the last two events, the 400-yard IM and 200-yard freestyle relay, to turn a two-point deficit into a 12-point win. That still stands as Stanford's last home loss. The year prior, Stanford beat Texas in the last event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, to leave Austin with a 154-146 victory. And in 2012, the Cardinal was led by soon-to-be 2016 Olympians Andi Murez and Maya DiRado, but was unable to hold on to a 25-point cushion as No. 7 Texas mounted a late rally to top No. 5 Stanford, 151.5-148.
LAST TIME OUT: Shortly after Stanford won its season opener at Oregon State, 141-109, on Oct. 14, the Cardinal defeated Washington State in its home opener, 144-99, on Oct. 20. Against the Cougars, Stanford set three pool records in front of an energetic crowd at Avery Aquatic Center, and posted the top time in all 14 events (finished 1-2 in nearly every race).
STREAKS: Stanford has won nine straight dual meets dating back to a 158-142 defeat to No. 3 Cal on Feb. 14, 2015. The Cardinal has also won eight straight dual meets at home dating back to Oct. 30, 2014 against Texas (156-144).
CARDINAL IN THE COMMUNITY: Since the last home meet, the Cardinal have been active in the community. Many members of the team were part of the Stanford SAAC event on the Sunday prior to Halloween. The student-athletes -- in full costume -- joined groups of young children to #TrickorTREEt in Palo Alto. Also this Fall, the team hosted a group of young local swimmers from San Jose to talk water safety and spend some time in the pool as part of a PSA with USA Swimming.
CAPTAINS: Head Coach Greg Meehan announced three senior captains for the 2016-17 campaign. Lia Neal, Lindsey Engel and Nicole Stafford were selected to lead the Cardinal for the upcoming season. The trio has helped guide Stanford to top-three NCAA finishes in their first three seasons.
MEEHAN BY THE NUMBERS: Now in his fifth season on The Farm, head coach Greg Meehan has led Stanford to a 33-4 (.892) record in dual meets, the 2013 Pac-12 conference championship and four top-eight finishes at the NCAA Championships, including three consecutive top-three finishes. Most recently, Meehan mentored three Olympians and one Paralympian, and served as an assistant coach for Team USA at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. Meehan worked extensively with Lia Neal, Simone Manuel and Maya DiRado, who combined to win nine medals (four gold). In addition, Stanford freshman Brickelle Bro qualified for the Paralympic Games in four events. Meehan has coached 19 Stanford All-Americans to a combined 131 All-America honors.
?? #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/1Kvj6Sczkm
— Stanford W Swim/Dive (@stanfordwswim) October 27, 2016
A LOOK BACK: The Cardinal was 7-0 in dual meets last season and ranked as high as No. 1 in the nation. Stanford finished second at the Pac-12 Championships with 13 total Pac-12 titles (three relays and 10 individual wins) and boasted the Pac-12 Coach of the Year (Greg Meehan), Pac-12 Diving Coach of the Year (Patrick Jeffrey), Pac-12 Newcomer of the Year (Ella Eastin) and Pac-12 Diver of the Year (Gracia Leydon Mahoney). Stanford then finished second at the NCAA Championships -- a meet that came down to the final event. The Cardinal totaled 35 All-America honors and five national titles (three individuals and two relays).
OLYMPIC RETURN: Stanford returns seven of its 10 All-Americans from last season, including five of six national champions. In addition, Olympians Simone Manuel and Kassidy Cook return to the team after redshirting the 2015-16 campaign. Manuel was a seven-time All-America honoree as a freshman for the Cardinal in 2014-15. She won four medals (two gold, two silver) at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio, and became the first African-American woman to medal in an Olympic event. Cook garnered All-America accolades in the 1-and-3-meter in 2015, and finished 13th at the Olympics.
CATCH THE CARDINAL: There is free admission to all Stanford meets at Avery Aquatic Center. Two more home meets remain on Jan 27 against UCLA and Jan. 28 vs. USC. Two Cardinal meets will also be televised on Pac-12 Networks -- at home against USC and at Cal on Saturday, Feb. 11. All other home meets will be live streamed on GoStanford.com.
SWIMMING ON SOCIAL (@StanfordWswim): Stanford women's swimming and diving can be found on instagram, twitter and snapchat (@StanfordWswim).
UP NEXT: Stanford heads to Columbus, Ohio, for the Ohio State Invitational.
Remaining schedule:
We are ready! Season starts next Friday #GoStanford????
A photo posted by Stanford W. Swimming (@stanfordwswim) on Oct 4, 2016 at 2:10pm PDT
#GoStanford