STANFORD, Calif. – Brad Zdroik, Jack Levant and Conor Casey won two events apiece as Stanford eased past Utah for a 190-105 win on Tuesday at Avery Aquatic Center.
"Our training sessions have been very competitive but this was a new experience for our freshman, getting up on the starting blocks for the first time," said the Goldman Family Director of Men's Swimming Ted Knapp. "We rested some of our upperclassmen today, so that opened the door for others to step up and they did – Daniel Roy, Mason Gonzalez and Will Roberts had nice swims to score points, and I thought Jack Walsh performed well in both individual and relay events."
After Stanford won the opening 200-yard medley relay, Matthew Hirschberger (9:15.75) captured the first individual event, the 1,000-yard freestyle, with teammate James Murphy (9:22.90) placing second. Levant (1:36.47) won his first ever race at Avery in the 200-yard freestyle, nearly two seconds faster than the runner up.
Patrick Conaton (49.28), racing for the first time since 2017 after redshirting in 2017-18, won the 100-yard backstroke ahead of Jack Walsh (49.34), who was second. Hank Poppe (55.12) and Daniel Roy (55.75) finished one-two in the 100-yard breaststroke, and Brad Zdroik (1:48.68) and Will Macmillan (1:49.26) made it three one-two finishes in a row in the 200-yard butterfly.
On the diving side of the competition, Casey won both events with impressive scores, first in the 1-meter (397.80). Fellow newcomer Noah Vigran followed him up in second place (289.95). In the 3-meter, Casey (403.13) and Vigran (330.83) finished one-two to complete the sweep of both diving events.
After a 20-minute break, Walsh (1:48.23) led the way in the 200-yard backstroke with Alex Boratto (1:48.82) and Glen Cowand (1:49.16) rounding out the podium. Roy (1:59.62) won his first race as a Cardinal in the 200-yard breaststroke with Matt Anderson (2:01.55) and Hank Poppe (2:01.77) completing the top-three sweep.
In the 500-yard freestyle, Murphy (4:28.78) owned the top place followed by teammate Hirschberger (4:32.92) in second. Zdroik (48.34) made it two wins with the top time in the 100-yard butterfly, followed by Macmillan (49.34) in second place.
Alex Liang (1:49.84) won the final individual event of the day, beating out Benjamin Ho (1:50.07) to win the 200-yard individual medley.
The Cardinal returns to action on Friday when it travels to Stockton, California, for the Pacific Invitational, which continues through Saturday. Live results will be available at GoStanford.com.
