STANFORD, Calif. – From the final furious lap of the meet's opening event – the 200-yard medley relay – it was clear this was Stanford's day.
As Jonathan Tan battled Cal's Jack Alexy to the wall, the teams and the crowd at Avery Aquatic Center were on their feet. Tan got there first – barely – but it was enough to put Stanford in front and create the momentum for a wire-to-wire victory in the 126th renewal of their annual men's swimming and diving dual.
No. 6 Stanford (6-1) beat the two-time defending NCAA champion and No. 2-ranked Golden Bears (3-1-1), 170-130, on Saturday afternoon. The Cardinal took a 103-23 lead in a series that began in 1916.
It wasn't just the relay, it was Liam Custer winning the 1,000 freestyle right after that, followed by Henry McFadden and Luke Maurer going 1-2 in the 200 free to give Stanford a 39-16 lead after three events that it would not relinquish.
"That first relay win was huge," said Dan Schemmel, Stanford's Goldman Family Director of Men's Swimming. "That's one of our better relays, but also a really good relay for them. And to carry that momentum into the 1,000 with Liam winning and then going 1-2 in the 200 … Those first few events really set the tone."
Cal's 200 medley relay team had the second-fastest time in NCAA Division I this season, with Stanford at No. 16. But the Cardinal team of Rex Maurer, Ron Polonsky, Andrei Minakov, and Tan edged the Bears, 1:23.35-1:23.38. Maurer and Cal's Bjorn Seeliger were deadlocked after the opening butterfly leg, but Polonsky put the Cardinal in front on the backstroke, and Minakov and Tan maintained the lead though Cal closed hard at the end.
Minakov was among the Cardinal to have a big day, breaking his own school record in the 200 fly. His time of 1:38.61 edged his standard of 1:38.63 from a January 19 dual against Arizona State. He finished as a triple winner, winning the 100 fly as well, in 44.60, and anchored the Cardinal 400 free relay that placed second to close out the meet.
Stanford won 10 of the 16 events, and earned a 1-2-3 sweep in the 200 breaststroke with Zhier Fan setting a personal best and becoming the No. 4 performer in school history in the victory. Three top-15 times in school history came from the sweep, with Ethan Dang second in a lifetime best 1:53.51 for No. 10 all-time, and Hayden Zheng third in 1:54.88 for No. 15 all-time.
Fan earned another PB, in the 100 breast. His time of 51.70 placed him No. 2 in Stanford history. The winner, Polonsky, swam 51.39, but already has the school record of 51.14.
Stanford swimmers set seven personal bests, with eight additions or improvements to the program's all-time top-15 list, and four new NCAA 'B' standards.
"Berkeley's a great program and always brings out the best in us," Schemmel said "We knew it was going to be a fast, very competitive meet. We didn't know exactly where we were going to be, but we're 10 days out of Pac-12 so we were hoping we'd be pretty sharp.
"We're really proud of the focus and the grit the team showed. They fought hard and, thankfully, that helped us come out on top."
Jack Ryan, fresh off the World Championships, won both diving events, with teammate Hunter Hollenbeck third in both. Together, they secured 24 points.
Ryan's scores were 355.35 points at 1-meter and 396.68 at 3-meter.
"He's diving really well," diving coach Patrick Jeffrey said. "The thing with him is his list is just stacked. The Cal coach mentioned that he shouldn't start with a dive that hard. I said, 'Well, they're all like that.' He did some really difficult dives. I was really happy."
Hollenbeck, who was among seven seniors honored at their final home meet (though Hollenbeck will return for another season), had strong scores as well -- 321.75 at 1-meter and 351.75 at 3-meter.
"He has improved so much this year," Jeffrey said. "When I got him, we needed to learn a lot of basic stuff. I've been holding him back for so long, just to try and get all this foundation put in. But recently, it's been, OK, it's ready. Let's go.
"He gets better every day. And there's still more."
The points in three-meter diving gave Stanford its largest lead, 156-108, with two events left. Overall, it was one of those days that the Cardinal won't forget any time soon. It was Stanford's largest margin of victory over the Bears since winning 146.5-96.5 in 2012 and the team's overall performance clearly meant a lot to Schemmel and the Cardinal.
"It's awesome," Schemmel said. "It means a lot. It's a huge confidence booster. And this day in particular, with it falling on Senior Day was a really cool way to send the seniors out. And it happens to be against our biggest rival. Everybody had a little extra motivation."
Photo by Scott Gould/ISIphotos.com.
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Stanford 170, Cal 130
At Avery Aquatic Center
Winners and all Stanford results
200-yard medley relay – 1, Stanford A (Rex Maurer, Ron Polonsky, Andrei Minakov, Jonathan Tan) 1:23.35; 2, California A 1:23.38; 3, Stanford B (Rafael Gu, Zhier Fan, Ethan Harrington, Avery Voss) 1:24.27.
1,000 freestyle – 1, Liam Custer (Stanford) 8:57.19 (No. 10 Stanford AT); 4, Gabe Machado (Stanford) 9:00.72; 5, Henry Morrissey (Stanford) 9:10.42.
200 free – 1, Henry McFadden (Stanford) 1:32.62 (PB; No. 5 Stanford AT); 2, Luke Maurer (Stanford) 1:32.81; 5, Andres Dupont Cabrera (Stanford) 1:33.64; 6, Preston Forst (Stanford) 1:34.84 (new NCAA B standard). Unplaced: Andrew Matejka (Stanford) 1:36.87.
100 backstroke – 1, Destin Lasco (Cal) 45.26; 2, Rex Maurer (Stanford) 46.16; 4, Aaron Sequeira (Stanford) 46.88; 5, Hayden Kwan (Stanford) 47.00.
100 breaststroke – 1, Ron Polonsky (Stanford) 51.39; 2, Zhier Fan (Stanford) 51.70 (PB; No. 2 Stanford AT).
200 butterfly – 1, Andrei Minakov (Stanford) 1:38.61 (PB; Stanford record); 3, Gibson Holmes (Stanford) 1:43.30 (No. 15 Stanford AT); 4, Matt Fenlon (Stanford) 1:43.57; 5, Rick Mihm (Stanford) 1:43.84.
50 free – 1, Bjorn Seeliger (Cal) 18.88; 2, Rafael Gu (Stanford) 19.31 (PB; No. 11 Stanford AT); 3, Jonathan Tan (Stanford) 19.53; 4, Avery Voss (Stanford) 19.72 (PB; new NCAA B standard); 6, Ethan Harrington (Stanford) 19.94.
1-meter diving – 1, Jack Ryan (Stanford) 355.35; 3, Hunter Hollenbeck (Stanford) 321.75.
100 free – 1, Bjorn Seeliger (Cal) 41.83; 2, Andres Dupont Cabrera (Stanford) 42.37; 4, Luke Maurer (Stanford) 42.48; 6, Jonathan Tan (Stanford) 43.58.
200 back – 1, Colby Mefford (Cal) 1:41.97; 3, Josh Zuchowski (Stanford) 1:42.36; 4, Hayden Kwan (Stanford) 1:42.39; 7, Aaron Sequeira (Stanford) 1:46.35.
200 breast – 1, Zhier Fan (Stanford) 1:52.68 (PB; No. 4 Stanford AT); 2, Ethan Dang (Stanford) 1:53.51 (PB; No. 10 Stanford AT); 3, Hayden Zheng (Stanford) 1:54.88 (No. 15 Stanford AT).
500 free – 1, Gabriel Jett (Cal) 4:10.43; 2, Rex Maurer (Stanford) 4:15.99; 3, Preston Forst (Stanford) 4:17.04 (new NCAA B standard); 4, Henry McFadden (Stanford) 4:20.38; 6, Matt Fenlon (Stanford) 4:24.41. Unplaced: Liam Custer (Stanford) 4:22.45; Andrew Matejka (Stanford) 4:24.64; Gabe Machado (Stanford) 4:25.91; Henry Morrissey (Stanford) 4:32.80.
100 fly – 1, Andrei Minakov (Stanford) 44.60; 2, Rafael Gu (Stanford) 45.17; 5, Ethan Hu (Stanford) 46.62; 7, Ethan Harrington (Stanford) 47.59.
3-meter diving – 1, Jack Ryan (Stanford) 396.68; 3, Hunter Hollenbeck (Stanford) 351.75.
200 individual medley – 1, Destin Lasco (Cal) 1:41.28; 2, Ron Polonsky (Stanford) 1:42.10; 3, Rick Mihm (Stanford) 1:43.68; 5, Gibson Holmes (Stanford) 1:46.14 (new NCAA B standard); 6, Josh Zuchowski (Stanford) 1:46.97.
400 free relay – 1, California A 2:47.93; 2, Stanford A (Rafael Gu, Andres Dupont Cabrera, Luke Maurer, Andrei Minakov) 2:48.55; 3, Stanford B (Avery Voss, 2, Jonathan Tan, Rex Maurer, Henry McFadden) 2:52.82.
PB = personal best
AT = all-time