California Golden Bears Athletics

AUSTIN, Texas – One. Two. Three. That's how many national titles Cal captured Thursday night at the NCAA Championships. And as a result, the Golden Bears own the team lead through seven events, with two days of competition remaining.
 
Cal's victories came in the 200-yard free relay and by Andrew Seliskar in the 200 individual medley and Ryan Hoffer in the 50 free. In the two other swims of the night, Sean Grieshop placed second in the 500 free and the 400 medley relay took runner-up honors.
 
The Bears sit in first place with 212 points, followed by Texas with 188 and Indiana with 155. To date, the Bears have set six school records at the meet already – 200 free, 800 free relay, 200 free relay, 500 free, 200 IM and 50 free.
 
In the 200 free relay, Cal and North Carolina State were locked in a battle from the opening leg. Pawel Sendyk gave the Bears a slight edge after the opening 50, and Hoffer, Michael Jensen and Andrew kept the Wolfpack at bay, touching in a school-record 1:14.72. NC State was a third-of-a-second back in 1:15.03.
 
The records kept falling for the Bears in the 500 free. Grieshop, who lowered his own school mark in morning qualifying, dropped nearly a second in the evening finals, finishing second in 4:10.29. And in the B final, Trenton Julian became the No. 2 performer in Cal history, winning the race in 4:11.30.
 
Cal picked up its first individual NCAA title of the championship when Andrew Seliskar away for a convincing win in the 200 IM. The senior lowered his school record to 1:38.14, broke the meet record by more than a second, and came within 0.01 of the American record set by Caeleb Dressel last year. In addition, Mike Thomas claimed the B final in a PR 1:42.34 and Daniel Carr was third in the B race in 1:42.42.
 
Cal extended its victory string in the 50 free as Hoffer out-sprinted Sendyk, winning in 18.63 to Sendyk's second-place 18.68. Earlier in the day, Hoffer broke Nathan Adrian's 2011 school record when he was timed in 18.58 in the prelims. The Bears also earned a victory in the B final when Jensen tied for first (ninth overall).
 
Connor Callahan just missed getting into the scoring column on the 1-meter springboard, finishing 18th in qualifying with a score of 303.95.
 
In the closing 400 medley relay, Carr led off, followed by Reece Whitley, Seliskar and Hoffer. They hit the wall in 3:01.56, a mere 0.02 seconds ahead of third-place Texas.
 
The NCAA meet continues Friday, starting at 8 a.m. PT for prelims with finals at 4 p.m. PT.