Cal Takes Down Stanford To Win Big Meet

Cal Takes Down Stanford To Win Big Meet

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STANFORD, Calif. - With one final opportunity to race in a dual meet setting in the 2015-16 season, the No. 2 Cal men's swimming and diving team showcased its depth with seven individuals winning eight events in a 130-113 Big Meet victory over No. 10 Stanford at Avery Aquatics Center.

Cal entered Saturday's meet intent on returning to Berkeley with nothing less than a victory after a one-point loss at USC two weeks ago left the Bears focused on that not happening again. To that end, senior Josh Prenot made his final dual meet as a collegiate swimmer a memorable one, leading the way for Cal with not one but two pool records.

The Bears made a statement right away, going 1-2 in the first event of the day, the 200-yard medley relay, and breaking their own pool record set in 2014. The team of Ryan Murphy, Connor Hoppe, Justin Lynch and Tyler Messerschmidt went 1.25.98 for the win, finishing well under the previous record time of 1.26.77 set by then-freshman Murphy as well as Chuck Katis, Tony Cox and Seth Stubblefield. The team of Andrew Seliskar, Prenot, Long Gutierrez and Dillon Williams placed second with a time of 1.27.96.

The Bears then kept that momentum going with freshman Nick Norman winning the 1000 free and a 1-2 finish by Trent Williams and Gutierrez in the 200 free and that brought the score to 40-15 after just three events. Stanford answered with its first event win of the meet in the 50 free by sophomore Sam Perry, but Murphy and Messerschmidt were close behind, finishing second and third to push the score to 48-26.

Prenot saw his first Avery Aquatics Center record of the day go down when he went a 1.45.38 in the 200 IM. That broke Dan Trupin's record of 1.45.69 that stood for 13 years, dating back to the 2003 season. Junior Jacob Pebley earned more points for the Bears, placing third in 1.47.72.

With a Stanford sweep in the one-meter diving and a 1-3 finish in the 200 fly, the Cardinal brought the score within five, 68-63, heading into the second half of the meet. Cal began a string of first place finishes after the diving break to pull away, as Murphy won the 100 free with a time of 43.95, Pebley won the 200 back and freshman Ryan Kao won the 500 free with a time of 4.22.40 to give the Bears a 107-81 advantage heading into the final events

In the 200 breaststroke, Prenot took down the longest standing Avery Aquatics Center pool record, set all the way back in 2002, to add another Bear to the Stanford record books. His 1.53.75 broke Michael Bruce's 1.55.85 record set in 2002 and gave the Bears a 124-102 points advantage. Stanford claimed the final relay of the day but the team of Lynch, Kyle Coan, Dillon Williams and Messerschmidt placed second with a 1:20.76 to end the meet 130-113 in favor of the Bears.

Cal finishes the dual meet season 7-1 overall and 4-1 in the Pac-12. The Bears now begin postseason competition, traveling to Federal Way, Wash. for the Pac-12 Championships from March 2-5 and the NCAA Championships on March 23-26 in Atlanta, Ga.

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