Pac 10 Championships: Stanford Strengthens Lead

LONG BEACH, California, March 7. ON day three of the Pac-10 Championships, Stanford extended their lead in what has become a three team race for the title. Stanford leads with 558 points, while second place California has 512 points and Arizona has 509.5 points. The Cardinal continue to show their depth and how they are peaking at the right part of the season. Stanford maintained their lead by putting several swimmers near the top of every event, while swimming several season bests.

With just one day remaining, Stanford is beginning to show why their program has won the Pac-10 Championships 26 consecutive years, a conference record in any sport.

The first event of the night was the 400 yard IM. Stanford had just one competitor in the championship final, Scott Lathrope who finished sixth with a time of 3:50.85. Vanni Mangoni of USC won the event with a time of 3:45.71.

Stanford dominated the 100 yard butterfly by taking the top two spots. Austin Staab won the event and in the process tied the Stanford school record with a time of 45.36 seconds. Staab's swim tied Ben Wildman-Tobriner who set the record just last season. Not far behind Staab was Jason Dunford who finished second with a time of 46.21 seconds to improve his season best and `A' standard time. Also with a season best was Eugene Godsoe who finished fifth with a `B' standard time of 47.47 seconds.

Arizona looked strong in the 200 yard freestyle by taking three of the top four spots. Darian Townsend of the Wildcats won the event with a time of 1:34.12. Stanford displayed their depth in the event by placing three in the top 8. Daniel Beal led the Cardinal with a fifth place finish and an `A' standard time of 1:34.88. Andrew Trepp and Phillip Morrison rounded out the championship final by finishing seventh and eighth with `B' standard times of 1:35.93 and 1:36.84, respectively.

The next event was the 100 yard breaststroke, an event that went a long way to the lead the Cardinal have established. Stanford took five of the first eight spots, including a first place for Paul Kornfeld. Kornfeld's time of 52.42 seconds was just off his own school record, but was a national `A' standard. Nate Cass finished third with a `B' standard time of 53.68 seconds. Just behind him was Chris Ash who finished fourth with a time of 53.87. Also placing in the championship final for Stanford were John Criste who finished sixth with a time of 54.01 seconds and Paul Zaich who finished seventh with a time of 54.24 seconds.

The final individual event of the evening was the 100 yard backstroke. The event was won by Albert Subirats of Arizona with a time of 46.50 seconds. Stanford's lone competitor in the final was Eugene Godsoe who placed third with an `A' standard time of 46.98 seconds.

To final event of day three was the 400 yard medley relay. Cal came from behind in the final leg to edge the Cardinal. Cal's winning time of 3:06.84 was just ahead of Stanford who finished with a time of 3:07.25; both were `A' standards. Stanford's relay was made up of Godsoe, Kornfeld, Staab, and Jason Dunford.

The Pac-10 Championships from Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool in Long Beach, Calif. conclude tomorrow, March 8. The Cardinal hope to end the day with another Pac-10 Championship, although they are sure to be challenged by both Cal and Arizona.

Special thanks to Stanford for contributing this report.

TEAM SCORES
1 Stanford University STAN 558
2 Univ of California Berkeley CAL 512
3 University of Arizona ARIZ 509.5
4 Arizona State University ASU 258.5
5 University of Southern Calif USC 255
6 University of Washington WASH 159

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