NCAA Division I Men’s Championships: Texas Counters California With 800 Free Relay

Visit Swimming World's Event Landing Page for complete coverage, photo gallery and video interviews from the meet.

COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 27. IN what turned out to be a back-and-forth affair during the second day of the NCAA Division I Men's Championships, Texas scored the final blow of the night with a splendid effort in the men's 800 free relay.

Texas' Scott Jostes (1:33.25), Dave Walters (1:32.76), Neil Caskey (1:33.86) and Ricky Berens (1:32.90) won the race in 6:12.77. The triumph gave Texas its 11th in the event's history. Previously, the Longhorns won the title in 1988-91, 1998-2001, 2003 and 2009. The time crushed the previous pool record of 6:15.80 set by Michigan at Big Tens last month.

Florida's Shaune Fraser, Brett Fraser, Jeffrey Raymond and Conor Dwyer finished a distant second in 6:14.72, while Arizona's Jean Basson, Nimrod Shapira Bar-Or, Jack Brown and Joel Greenshields placed third in 6:18.33.

California lost the chance to put a dagger in Texas' title hopes when it fell back to 10th in the race with a 6:23.89 from Nathan Adrian, Graeme Moore, Ben Hinshaw and Tom Shields. That effort left the door open for Texas in what should be an illuminating final day of prelims.

Cal finished a grueling second day of battle in the pool with the leading tally of 348.5 points. Texas remained in second with 330 points, while Arizona stood third with 269 points. Florida (264) and Stanford (221) completed the top five, while Auburn (215.5) was in striking distance of the top five.

Swimming World's NCAA DI Men's Championships Notes Package Sponsored by Nike

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use