The second-ranked Stanford men’s swimming team withstood a strong challenge from California and will carry a slim 599-580 lead into the final day of the Pac-10 Championships at the Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool in Long Beach.
Austin Staab won his third career 100 fly Pac-10 title, Matt Thompson won his first career title, and Jake Allen was a runner-up in the 200 free to highlight Cardinal action as Stanford remained in front with one day to go at the Pac-10 Championships.
The Bears outscored Stanford, 329-276, on the day and will be a threat to stop Stanford’s 29-year run as conference champions.
Chad La Tourette and David Mosko give Stanford the edge in the 1,650 free and Thompson and Matthew Swanston should help the Cardinal fare well in the 200 back.
California will likely dominate the 100 free but it’s a toss up in the 200 breast and 200 fly. The 400 free relay is also wide open.
The platform diving scores will be added just prior to the relay and Stanford outscored the Bears, 55-16, in the event.
Staab won the 100 fly with a time of 44.66. He joins John Ferris (1969-71), Pablo Morales (1984-86) and Jay Mortensen (1987-89) as Stanford’s three-time winners in the event.
Thompson swam a career best 3:54.01, the fourth best time in school history, in winning the 400 IM. It’s the first time in 11 years Stanford has swept both individual medleys.
Allen, one of four Cardinal swimmers in the championship finals, finished with a time of 1:34.28 in the 200 free.
Men’s volleyball
Brad Lawson had 23 kills and Evan Barry had 55 assists to lead third-ranked Stanford to a 25-20, 25-23, 20-25, 25-23 victory over No. 7 UC Irvine in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation action Friday night.
Spencer McLachlin added 17 kills and freshman Brian Cook had a season-high 13 kills to go along with a Stanford season-high .591 hitting percentage for Stanford (10-4, 13-4).
Cook had only one attack error in 22 attempts as Stanford hit .397, with help from Barry’s four-set career-high assist total.
The Cardinal withstood a balanced attack from UC Irvine, which had four players in double figures in kills in the matchup between the past two NCAA champions.
Stanford extended its winning streak to four and seeks its first conference road weekend sweep of the season when it plays at UC San Diego on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Men’s gymnastics
Josh Dixon recorded an 87.400 in the all-around competition, winning two events, and Stanford won a four-way meet against host Illinois-Chicago, Illinois and Air Force on Friday in Chicago.
The second-ranked Cardinal (6-2) scored 357.800, with Dixon winning the floor exercise (15.500) and tied for first in the vault (15.900).
Alex Buscaglia won the horizontal bar competition with a score of 15.500, Ryan Lieberman scored a 15.300 to win the parallel bars and Tim Gentry went 15.700 for a victory on the rings.
Softball
Alix Van Zandt hit a home run and drove in two runs as Stanford opened play in the DeMarini Invitational with a 5-0 victory over Southern Mississippi in Fullerton on Friday.
Michelle Prong hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth and the Cardinal beat Iowa, 2-1, in the second game.
Stanford (14-3) plays UC Santa Barbara and Murray State on Saturday.
Senior Ashley Chinn tossed a nifty two-hitter against the Golden Eagles in earning her seventh victory without a loss. It was her fourth complete game and third shutout of the season. She struck out nine and walked one.
Danielle Miller added two hits and two RBI while freshman Sarah Hassman and Ashley Hansen each added two hits.
Gerhart (7-3) went the distance, her seventh complete game, against the Hawkeyes, lowering her ERA to 1.37 in 13 appearances. She pitched a four-hitter, with a walk and nine strikeouts.
Baseball
Menlo School grad Kenny Diekroeger singled home two runs in the top of the ninth inning but Stanford could not complete the comeback in a 4-3 loss to host Texas on Friday.
The Cardinal (5-4) recorded four of its six hits in the final inning, all against Longhorn starter Taylor Jungmann, who threw 25 consecutive scoreless innings to open the season before Lonnie Kauppila drove home a run in the top of the fifth.
Stanford starter Mark Appel (0-2) took a shutout into the fifth and wound up allowing four runs on eight hits. He pitched into the eighth.
The series continues Saturday at noon with Stanford sending Jordan Pries (2-0, 1.64) to mound against sixth-ranked Texas.
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports