FEDERAL WAY, Wash. - Andrei Minakov repeated as the Pac-12 Champion of the 100 fly while on day three of the Pac-12 Swimming Championships. Stanford sits third in the team point total, behind Arizona State and California with one day remaining.
The Cardinal began the third day of action with a strong prelims session. Nine Stanford swimmers earned spots in A finals while 24 total swims took place in all finals heats combined.
In the 400 IM, Ron Polonsky was Stanford's top-finisher, coming in sixth place overall in the A final with a 3:40.97, the fastest Cardinal swim in the event this year by nearly four seconds. Rick Mihm (3:44.64) added a third place finish in the B final along with Liam Custer (3:46.19) who took fifth.
Stanford dominated the 100 fly in prelims, taking the top three spots and adding a fourth A finalist. The Cardinal repeated the sweep in finals, as Andrei Minakov swam a 44.51 to become a two-time Pac-12 Champion in the event.
Aaron Sequeira claimed the silver medal, swimming a 45.09 while Rafael Gu added a tie for the bronze and a time of 45.13. Jonathan Affeld was Stanford's fourth swimmer in the A final, taking eighth place and a time of 46.01.
Ethan Hu (45.94) also scored points for the Cardinal in the 100 fly, taking third place in the B final.
The 200 free featured freshman Andres Dupont in the A final finishing seventh overall and recording a time of 1:33.36, the 10th fastest 200 free in Stanford history. Luke Maurer (1:32.47) earned a heat win, taking first place in the B final and swam the second-fastest 200 free in program history.
Andrew Matejka (1:36.74) added an eighth place finish in the 200 free B final.
In the 100 breast, Zhier Fan took fifth place overall while swimming the third-fastest 100 breast in program history. Fan is just the fourth Stanford swimmer to break 52 seconds in the event.
Ethan Dang (52.46) took the heat win in the B final, claiming first place while Hayden Zheng (54.06) finished seventh in the C final.
Aaron Sequeira represented the Cardinal again in the 100 back alongside Leon MacAlister. The duo finished sixth and seventh, respectively, as Sequeira notched a 45.45 and MacAlister swam a 45.85.
Three Cardinal swimmers competed in the B final, as Josh Zuchowski (46.41) finished third, Hayden Kwan (47.24) took seventh, and Shane Blinkman (47.66) finished eighth.
Stanford wrapped up day three with a podium finish in the 400 medley relay, as Leon MacAlister, Ron Polonsky, Andrei Minakov, and Luke Maurer combined to take third in the event. Trailing only Arizona State and California, the quartet swam a 3:02.71 for the bronze medal.
The Cardinal is back in action tomorrow for the final day of the Pac-12 Swimming Championships in Federal Way, Washington. Tomorrow's events include the 1650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, and the 400 free relay.
