Pacific 10 Championships: Day Three

LONG BEACH, California, March 6. NO. 1 Stanford completed another record breaking day at the Pac-10 Championships on Friday night led by individual conference titles from Austin Staab and Eugene Godsoe. The Cardinal held onto their lead with 607.5 points, while No. 6 California is lurking in second place with 572 points.

The Cardinal were led by Austin Staab who shattered the Stanford and Pac-10 records in the 100 fly. Staab's time of 44.69 was also just short of the NCAA record of 44.57. The Pac-10 title was the second straight for Staab who also won the event last year in his freshman season.

Finishing second in the same race was Jason Dunford with a time of 45.93. Also faring well was Godsoe who placed fourth with a time of 46.41.

In the consolation final, Alex Coville finished 10th with a time of 47.39.

Godsoe captured the other Stanford Pac-10 title of the night in the 100 back. Godsoe's time of 45.85 was the third-fastest all-time at Stanford.

Stanford also scored big points in the 100 breast where three swimmers finished in the top six. John Criste led the Cardinal with his second-place finish. His time of 52.16 was the second-fastest all-time by a Cardinal breaststroker. The only swimmer to go faster is defending NCAA Champion, Paul Kornfeld who was fifth with a time of 52.70. Finally, Curtis Lovelace finished sixth with a time of 52.83.

In the consolation final Paul Zaich finished 14th with a time of 54.37.

In the 200 free, Stanford had three swimmers in the top-seven places. Freshman Bobby Bollier led the Cardinal with a fifth place finish with a time of 1:34.99. Immediately following Bollier were Phillip Morrison in sixth (1:35.00) and Rob Andrews in seventh (1:35.12).

Stanford was also well represented in the consolation final of the 200 free, led by Jake Allen who finished 10th with a time of 1:35.05. He was followed by Andrew Trepp in 11th (1:35.65) and Trevor Scheid in 12th (1:36.55).

The last individual event was the 400 IM where Nate Cass led the Cardinal with his third place finish. Cass finished with a time of 3:45.02, which was the fourth fastest in Stanford history. Also with a strong swim was Josh Charnin-Aker who finished sixth with a time of 3:45.97.

Freshman Chad La Tourette represented Stanford in the consolation final with a time of 3:56.11.

The most exciting race of the evening and perhaps the entire meet was the came at the end of the night in the 400 medley relay. The race turned into a two team dual between Bay Area rivals Stanford and Cal. Both teams swam under the NCAA record with the Bears edging the Cardinal. Stanford's team of Godsoe, Criste, Staab and Dunford swam a time of 3:03.56, which was almost two seconds under the school record, but trailed Cal who swam 3:03.30.

The Cardinal will be back in the pool Saturday for the completion of the Pac-10 Championships. The Cardinal will be looking to hang onto their lead and capture their 28th consecutive conference title.

Special thanks to Stanford for contributing this report.

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