NCAA Men's Division I Championships: California's Damir Dugonjic Blasts NCAA, U.S. Open Record in 100 Breast - ON-DEMAND VIDEO AVAILABLE -- March 27, 2009
COLLEGE STATION, Texas, March 27. SOMETHING must have gotten into the water as the NCAA and U.S. Open record books have been torched so far this evening. California's Damir Dugonjic crushed the 51-second barrier in the 100-yard breast for the win.
Dugonjic hammered his NCAA and U.S. Open record of 51.41 set last month at the Pacific 10 Championships with a jaw-dropping time of 50.86. The win is California's fourth in NCAA history as D. Graham Smith won the 100 breast for Cal in 1977 and 1979, while Henrique Barbosa snared the crown in 2006.
Auburn's Adam Klein finished nearly a second behind with a quick time of 51.80. The margin of victory for Dugonjic isn't the biggest in the event in NCAA history as Steve Lundquist of SMU (52.48) downed John Moffett of Stanford (54.09) by 1.61 seconds back in 1983.
Stanford's John Criste clocked a sterling time of 51.89, while defending champion Paul Kornfeld of Stanford finished fourth in 52.05.
Texas kept its lead with 286 points, while Stanford jumped into second with 251 points. Auburn made it a three-way dance with a third-place 249. California (197) and Arizona (188) made up the rest of the top five.
