Stanford defeated Utah 164-125 in a coed conference meet Friday afternoon at Avery Aquatic Center.
After an unscored meet against UC Santa Cruz to open the 2015/16 season this past weekend, the Cardinal responded to a more difficult test today.
“What I see happening on a daily basis is guys are competing to find a place on the team,” said Goldman Family Director of Men’s Swimming Ted Knapp. “We have such a balanced team, so there’s a lot more excitement about covering events in numbers better than we have in the past.”
“I love the unity of the team. Every day in practice you see the guys supporting each other and competing with each other,” he added. “We have a bunch of guys fighting for spots, but at the same time it’s great to see them come together.”
The team of Ryan Dudzinski, Matt Anderson, Andrew Liang and Spencer DeShon (1:29.41) got things started with a win in the 200-yard medley relay.
Sean Duggan (1:39.95) won the 200-yard freestyle with Jeff Garnier (1:41.13) finishing third and Brad Zdroik (1:41.15) fourth.
Christian Brown (55.56) and Anderson (56.42) went 1-2 in the 100-yard breaststroke.
Gray Umbach (1:48.23), Liang (1:51.68) and Abrahm DeVine (1:51.24) swept the podium in the 200-yard butterfly.
Sam Perry (20.08) and Connor Black (20.36) finished first and second, respectively, in the 50-yard freestyle.
Perry (44.33) also out-touched Sean Duggan (45.32) and DeShon (45.52) to win the 100-yard freestyle.
Anderson (2:02.38) won the 200-yard breaststroke, with Curtis Ogren (2:05.35) taking third.
Umbach (48.82), Liang (48.87) and Black (49.10) had podium finishes in the 100-yard butterfly.
The team of Perry, Black, Duggan and Zdroik (1:21.23) out-touched DeShon, Liang, Garnier and Umbach (1:21.72) to finish the afternoon.
On the diving side of the competition, Connor Kuremsky (365.25) won the 3-meter as well as the 1-meter (322.35).
“Connor stepped up and did a great job,” said diving coach Patrick Jeffrey. “Diving is a little difficult early on in the season because not everyone is quite ready to throw their big tricks, but he did well in trying some tough dives early.”
Stanford returns to action Friday, Oct. 23, for its annual Alumni Meet, followed by the Cal Triple Distance on Nov. 4 in Berkeley, California.
