NCAA Div. I Men: Stanford Meets Cal in Dual Meet Finale

PALO ALTO, Feb. 19. THE No. 1 Stanford men's swimming and diving team (7-0, 3-0 Pac-10) closes out the regular season this Saturday, February 23 with cross-town rival California (6-1, 3-0 Pac-10) at 1 p.m. in the Avery Aquatic Complex.

Last Time Out:
The No. 1-ranked Stanford Cardinal men's swimming and diving team remained unbeaten with a 156.5-84.5 win over No. 8 USC.

Ten pool records were broken by the two squads with six coming from Stanford swimmers. Stanford won nine of 12 swimming events and both diving events in one of the fastest collegiate dual meets ever.

Stanford jumped on the board first with a 1-2-3 finish in the 100 back. Peter Marshall set a USC pool record with his nation-leading time of 46.55. Cardinal sophomore Michael Bruce swam his fastest time on the year to take top honors in the 100 breast (54.75) as Stanford once again finished 1-2-3. Stanford broke a second USC pool record when sophomore Bobby O'Bryan swam to a first-place finish in a time of 48.13 in the 100 fly.

Randall Bal became the third Cardinal to break a USC pool record when he swam the 50 free in 20.06 to take first. Sophomore Markus Rogan dropped almost three seconds off his previous season-best time in the 400 IM on his way to victory. Rogan swam the event in a NCAA automatic qualifying time of 3:45.57, the nation's fastest this season.

Stanford racked up another pool record in the 200 fly as frosh Jayme Cramer posted a time of 1:45.97 to take top honors. The Cardinals picked up another win as Michael Bruce set a pool record in the 200 breast with a time of 1:56.93 (NCAA automatic).

Fast, Faster, Fastest:
Stanford swimmers have posted some very fast times so far this year – in fact, they have swam some of the fastest collegiate times in the nation. Peter Marshall's 46.55 in the 100 back is the top time nationally as well as Marcus Rogan's time of 1:43.42 in the 200 back. Rogan also owns the fastest time in the 400 IM this season at 3:45.57. Randall Bal's time of 46.77 in the 100 back is the second fastest time in that event this season while Michael Bruce's time of 1:56.93 in the 200 breast is also the second fastest. The Cardinal's 400 medley relay team has posted the second fastest time in that event (3:13.50) as well.

Up Next:
The Cardinal will head to the 2002 Pac-10 Men's Swimming and Diving Championships in Long Beach, Calif., March 7-9.

Head Coach Skip Kenney:
Stanford head coach Skip Kenney enters his 23rd season at the helm of the Cardinal program. He has led Stanford to seven NCAA titles, including a runaway win in 1998. He has also been named NCAA Coach of the Year six times, most recently in 1998.

In addition, Kenney has led the Cardinal to some of the finest team performances in the history of the NCAA Championship meet. The 1992 squad set meet records for both points scored (632) and victory margin (276 points over Texas), and the 1998 team became the first to have a championship final representative in every individual and relay swimming event. He has guided the Cardinal to 20 straight conference titles, which is far and away the record for consecutive Pac-10 championships in any sport. Kenney has been named Pac-10 Coach of the Year 13 times in the last 19 years.

About The Golden Bears:
No. 4 California will face Stanford on Saturday in a showdown of the conference unbeatens. Last time out, California defeated No. 8 USC, 167-131. They are coached by Nort Thorton, who is in his 28th season at the helm of the swimming program. The Golden Bears' only loss of the season was against Texas in October. Cal's Duje Draganja owns the fastest time in the nation this year in the 100 free (42.58) among collegians. Olympic champion Anthony Irvin–a double world champion in 2001–has the second fastest time in the 50 free this season (19.46).

Pac-10 Championships:
The Stanford Cardinal will be aiming for its 21st consecutive conference championship next month when the Pac-10 Men's Swimming and Diving Championships are held in Long Beach, Calif., March 7-9. Stanford holds the league record (in any sport) for most consecutive conference titles with its current 20.

Tough Competition:
The No. 1-ranked Stanford Cardinal is one of six Pac-10 schools ranked in the top 25. Five league schools are ranked in the top 10 while two are in the top five.

Did You Know?:
Stanford has a 15-0 dual meet record over the last two years. The Cardinal have posted a top four finish at NCAAs for 20 consecutive years. Stanford has won eight NCAA titles – the last coming in 1997-98.

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