Sitting in second place heading into the final day of the Pac-12 Conference Men's Swimming and Diving Championships, Stanford's valiant comeback effort fell short as the Cardinal finished second Wednesday evening at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Wash.

Stanford received impressive wins from Drew Cosgarea (1,650 free) and David Nolan (200 back, but its historic streak of 31 consecutive conference titles was snapped in Ted Knapp's first season as head coach.

Cal, the two-time defending NCAA champion, won the title with 825 points while Stanford collected 800 points for second. USC (638.5) was third and Arizona (483) finished fourth. It was Cal's first title since 1981.

Utah (290.5), Arizona State (257), UC Santa Barbara (230) and Cal Poly (112) rounded out the eight-team field.

Stanford now looks ahead to the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships (March 28-30) in Indianapolis.

Cosgarea (14:49.71) topped the podium in the mile and teammate Danny Thomson (15:03.39) earned the bronze in his Pac-12 debut. Bryan Offutt (15:07.75) brought home fifth-place points.

Cosgarea lowered his lifetime best of 14:51.26 set at the 2012 NCAA Championships and moved just outside the all-time top 40 in the event.

Nolan added another Pac-12 title to his resume with a meet-record 1:40.39 in the 200 back. Nolan's time bested the 1:40.51 set by current Stanford volunteer assistant coach Eugene Godsoe in 2009. Matt Thompson (1:43.04) was fifth, Matthew Swanston (1:43.39) was sixth and Will Gunderson (1:44.40) took eighth in the race as Stanford trimmed Cal's lead to 15 points.

In the 100 free, Stanford's Aaron Wayne (42.48) took second with Andrew Saeta (43.33) touching fifth to narrow Cal's gap over the Cardinal to 673-662.

Cal broke away from the pack by placing three in the top six of the 200 breast, with Mason Shaw (1:56.35) representing the Cardinal with a seventh-place swim. NCAA and American recordholder Kevin Cordes of Arizona won the event in 1:52.96.

Sacred Heart Prep grad Tom Kremer posted a 1:44.54 in the 200 fly for second to pace the Cardinal. The final two spots in the top five were earned by Gray Umbach (1:44.46) and Mack Montgomery (1:44.89).

Stanford gained ground with an NCAA 'A'cut 2:51.18 in the 400 free relay. Nolan, Wayne, Kremer and Wayne finished second to end the meet.

Men's gymnastics
Stanford men's gymnast Eddie Penev has been named the College Gymnastics Association Gymnast of the Week as the nation's top collegiate gymnast for the week of Feb. 25-March 3.

This is Penev's second honor this season and fourth in his career.

Penev had an outstanding performance at the Collegiate Challenge hosted by Stanford on Saturday. He earned three season highs to finish first in floor (16.000), vault (15.600) and the all-around (88.950). He also tied his season best on rings with a 14.450.

His scores in floor, vault and the all-around are the highest of any Stanford gymnast this season.

The Collegiate Challenge featured the Japanese Collegiate National Team, No. 9 California, Washington and Arizona State.

Stanford will complete its regular season on Saturday as it travels to West Point, N.Y. to take on Army and Springfield.

Men's golf
Stanford's Patrick Rodgers, Andrew Yun and David Boote are among the players being considered to compete in the Palmer Cup at Wilmington Country Club, as announced Wednesday by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA).

The Palmer Cup, named in honor of legendary golfer Arnold Palmer, invites the top six men's collegiate golfers who are citizens of the United States and Europe. Those players will be among the 10 individuals selected to represent each team.

Among the 25 players on the Palmer Cup rankings, Rodgers holds the No. 10 spot in the U.S. while Yun is at No. 22. Boote ranks No. 11 for Europe.

Only 13 players have posted 4-0 records during a single Palmer Cup but the most recent two have been from Stanford -- David Chung (2010) and Yun (2012).

Yun is tied with professional golfer Jonathan Byrd for most team points, at seven, scored by an American at the Palmer Cup.

Boote, a freshman native of Surrey, England, would be the second Stanford golfer to represent Europe since Philip Rowe, the Stanford assistant coach.

Rowe, a four-time Palmer Cup participant from England, serves as the assistant coach for Europe at the 2013 and 2014 Palmer Cups. Rowe is one of four players to compete in four Palmer Cups, all from Great Britain and Ireland (GB&I)/Europe.

Since the Palmer Cup's inception in 1997, six Stanford players have competed and current head coach Conrad Ray coached the U.S. team in 2008.

Stanford's Palmer Cup alumni have been Joel Kribel (1997), Rowe (1999-2002), Ray (coach, 2008), Steve Ziegler (2009), Chung (2010), Yun (2011 & 2012) and Rodgers (2012).

— Stanford Athletics

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