MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – California got off to a successful start in its trip to the North Star State by winning the 200-yard medley relay on the opening night of the Minnesota Invitational at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center on Wednesday.
 
The quartet of Daniel Carr, Reece Whitley, Pawel Sendyk and Ryan Hoffer captured the 200 medley relay in 1:23.12, edging rival Texas by 0.41 seconds for the 40-point victory. The time of 1:23.12 cleared the NCAA "A" qualifying standard and was good for a tie of the ninth-fastest 200 medley relay in school history.
 
Bryce Mefford, Jacques Laeuffer, Michael Jensen and Nate Biondi combined to be Cal's second-fastest group in the 200 medley relay, taking seventh place with a time of 1:26.47.
 
Cal later took fourth and 30 points in the 800-yard freestyle relay with a time of 6:18.51. The Bears – led by Trenton Julian, Jensen, Mefford and Carr – placed behind a pair of Texas squads (first, third) and a Michigan quartet that took runner-up. Two other Cal groups swam the 800 free relay, highlighted by Sean Grieshop, Colby Mefford, Chris Jhong and Whitley finishing sixth (6:21.96).

Through two events, Cal sits in second place with 132 points, trailing only Texas (172). Full relay results can be found here.
 
NEXT TIME
The Bears will compete in four different events – 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free and 400 medley relay – on day two of the Minnesota Invitational. Preliminaries start at 8 a.m. (PT) with finals starting at 4 p.m. (PT).
 
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