MINNEAPOLIS – The No. 4 California men's swimming & diving team finished the Minnesota Invitational in style, winning four of the five events on Saturday at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center. The Golden Bears swept the 100 freestyle and 200 butterfly and had the top two finishes in the 400-yard free relay.
 
Cal was the team champion with a score of 2,360 points. Arizona finished second with a score of 1,455 and was followed by host Minnesota with a score of 1345.5. The Bears received individual wins from Destin Lasco, Jack Alexy, and Dare Rose -  with all three recording NCAA A qualifying times in their respective events.
 
Saturday's finals began with the timed final in the 1,650 free. The Bears placed two in the top five, with Jack Meehan finishing third with a time of 15:11.92. Tyler Kopp finished with a time of 15:13.90. Both were good enough for NCAA B-cut times.
 
Lasco and Keaton Jones went one and two in the 200 backstroke. Lasco, the defending national champion in the event, finished with a time of 1:38.34 - an NCAA A-cut time and the second-fastest mark in the NCAA this year. Jones set a new career-best with a time of 1:40.23, an NCAA B provisional time. Ziyad Saleem took fourth with a time of 1:41.69, followed by Colby Mefford who finished with a time of 1:41.96. Kai Crews finished seventh with a time of 1:43.09. All three times were good enough for NCAA B provisional times.
 
The 100 free was dominated by Cal. The Bears captured the top four spots, along with sixth and eighth places. Alexy finished with the fourth-fastest time in the country this year, touching the wall with a time of 41.41, an NCAA A-cut time. Bjorn Seeliger and Matthew Jensen finished second and third with NCAA B-cut times of 42.31 and 42.80, respectively. Robin Hanson took fourth with a time of 42.97 – narrowly missing an NCAA B-cut time. Dylan Hawk took sixth (43.37) followed by Roman Jones in eighth (43.53).
 
Jacob Soderlund and Liam Bell recorded NCAA B-cut times in the 200 breaststroke. Soderlund finished second with a time of 1:55.96, less than two-tenths of a second behind winner Max Matteazzi of Pitt. Bell finished in fourth with a time of 1:56.33. Hank Rivers placed eighth with a time of 1:59.49.
 
In the final individual event of the meet, Cal once again took the top three spots. Rose dropped 5.50 seconds from his prelims time to finish first with a time of 1:39.76. It is the third fastest time in the nation turned in this year and an NCAA A-cut time. Gabriel Jett finished well under his prelim swim with a time of 1:41.33. Aaron Shackell finished third with a personal-best time of 1:43.40, an NCAA B-cut time.
 
In the final event of the meet, the 400 free relay, Cal once again had the top two times. The Bears' A lineup of Alexy, Jensen, Jett, and Hawk finished with a time of 2:48.55 – the sixth fastest time in the country this season. Cal's B lineup of Seeliger, Lasco, Hanson, and Bell finished with a time of 2:48.88 which would be the ninth fastest time this season.
 
In the platform diving championships, freshman Geoffry Vavitsas finished second in the finals with a score of 341.20. Conrad Eck captured third with a score of 307.90, a zone-qualifying mark.
 
The Bears return to action with back-to-back dual meets against Pac-12 foes Arizona and Arizona State on Jan. 19 and 20th at Spieker Aquatics Complex.
 
STAY POSTED
For complete coverage of Cal men's swimming and diving, please follow the Bears on Twitter (@CalMenSwim), Instagram (@CalMenSwim) and Facebook (Facebook.com/CalMensSwimmingandDiving).