Stanford Men Win 3-Point Nailbiter Over USC

STANFORD VS. SOUTHERN CAL

• Results
• Hosted by USC
• Saturday, February 3rd
• 25 Yards
• Dual Meet Format

FINAL TEAM SCORES:

• STANFORD: 151.5
• USC: 148.5

The Stanford men remain undefeated in dual meet action after winning a nailbiter on the road against Pac-12 rival USC on Saturday. The Cardinal has a chance to go undefeated this season with only Cal remaining on the dual meet schedule.

The Stanford distance crew pulled in big points for their team. In the 1000 free, freshman Johannes Calloni led the charge with a 9:07.13. Teammates James Murphy (9:10.38) and Matthew Hirschberger (9:13.55) followed for a 1-2-3 sweep. Pac-12 champion Grant Shoults and All-American Liam Egan battled in the 500 free. Egan set the pace up front, leading by nearly a second with 200 yards to go. Shoults made his move to close the gap and take over the lead for the final 150 yards, winning in 4:22.30 to Egan’s 4:22.54.

Brad Zdroik was one of Stanford’s top performers. In the 200 fly, he was neck-and-neck with USC’s Alex Valente through the front half, but used his back half speed to distance himself from the field as he won in 1:45.19. Zdroik nearly made it a stroke sweep, coming up just .01 shy to teammate Andrew Liang in the 100 fly, 47.01 to 47.02. Valente followed closely for 3rd in 47.22.

Matt Anderson also brought home an individual win for Stanford. Anderson and teammate Brennan Pastorek had a close race in the 200 breast, with Anderson pulling slightly ahead on the back half to win 1:58.76 to 1:59.06. USC’s Carsten Vissering followed in 1:59.44. Anderson also took 2nd in the 100 breast, touching in 54.40 behind Vissering (53.41).

USC’s Robert Glinta had a standout swim for the Trojans in the 100 back. Glinta dominated the race in 46.16, finishing less than 2 tenths shy of his season best 45.97 from the USA vs. College Challenge. He also led off the Trojans’ 200 medley relay in a quick 21.66 and turned in a 1:42.45 in the 200 back for a narrow 2nd place to teammate Patrick Mulcare (1:42.24). Mulcare also won the 200 IM in 1:46.96.

Dylan Carter came up with a pair of wins for USC, touching in 1:36.07 for the 200 free win. He came back for the 100 free, using his front-half speed to take the edge over Stanford’s Sam Perry, winning 44.16 to 44.39. Carter was slightly faster on the leadoff split on the 400 free relay with a 43.92. Fellow All-American sprinter Santo Condorelli returned for the Trojans today after sitting out yesterday’s meet against Cal to rest his shoulder. Condorelli nabbed a win in the 50 free, as he was the only man to break 20 seconds in 19.73. Carter and Condorelli teamed up on the 200 medley relay, with Carter posting a 20.48 fly split and Condorelli putting up a 19.35 free split.

PRESS RELEASE – STANFORD:

LOS ANGELES – No. 4 Stanford survived a narrow decision against No. 10 USC, beating the Trojans, 151.5-148, in a Pac-12 dual meet at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center on Saturday.

“We saw a lot of energy and spirit today, and it was a great day for racing against a really strong USC team,” said Goldman Family Director of Men’s Swimming Ted Knapp. “We’ll look to clean up a few things execution-wise as we head into the postseason.”

The Cardinal (5-0, 4-0 Pac-12) fell behind early with second place in the 200-yard medley relay. Ryan Dudzinski, Matt Anderson, Andrew Liang and Sam Perry swam 1:26.02 and were narrowly edged by the Trojans (6-2, 2-2).

Stanford then swept the top three places in the 1,000-yard freestyle, led by Johannes Calloni (9:07:13) and followed by James Murphy (9:10.38) and Matthew Hirschberger(9:13.55) – the trio was over 12 seconds faster than any USC swimmer.

Liam Egan (1:37.24) finished second in the 200-yard freestyle, Ryan Dudzinski (48.09) placed third in the 100-yard backstroke and Matt Anderson (54.40) was runner up in the 100-yard breaststroke to give the Trojans the advantage before Brad Zdroik (1:45.19) won the 200-yard butterfly. Abrahm DeVine (1:46.67) followed him up in third place.

Andrew Liang (20.01) and Perry (20.04) were edged for second and third place, respectively, in the 50-yard freestyle before the first break of the dual. After the break, Perry (44.39) finished second in the 100-yard freestyle while Alberto Mestre (44.68) was third.

USC claimed the top two spots in the 200-yard backstroke, with Calloni (1:45.84) swimming Stanford’s fastest time in third place. Anderson (1:58.76) and Brennan Pastorek (1:59.06) scored big points in the 200-yard breaststroke with a one-two finish before the Cardinal swept the top three spots in the 500-yard freestyle.

Shoults (4:22.30) led the way with Egan (4:22.54) finishing 0.24 seconds behind him and Sweetser (4:25.15) in third place – Shoults’ 4:11.34 in the 500 free at the Texas Invitiational stands as the fastest time in the nation this season.

Andrew Liang (47.01) and Brad Zdroik (47.02) kept the momentum going with a top-two finish in the 100-yard butterfly. Alex Liang (1:48.45) was Stanford’s fastest swimmer in the 200-yard individual medley, finishing second – DeVine (1:48.59) and Jack Walsh (1:49.46) rounded out the top four.

The Cardinal hung on to clinch the meet in the 400-yard freestyle relay, finishing second. Mestre, Perry, Cole Cogswell and Andrew Liang (2:56.11) were edged by .05 seconds.

Tarek Abdelghany continued his excellent form, winning the 1-meter springboard with the high score of 393.45 — Ted Miclau (339.75) was fourth. On the 1-meter, Abdelghany (290.48) was fourth with Miclau (256.13) in fifth.

Stanford returns to action on Feb. 17 when it hosts Cal at Avery Aquatics Center. The meet will start at Noon PT, with Senior Day ceremonies taking place prior to the meet.

PRESS RELEASE – USC:

On Senior Day, No. 10 USC won 10 events, including a pair of relays, but ultimately fell to No. 4 Stanford in a nail biter, 151.5-148.5, Saturday (Feb. 3) at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center.

USC falls to 6-2, 2-2 after hosting top four teams on back-to-back days, while Stanford improves to 5-0, 4-0.

The day started with a brief ceremony honoring the senior Trojan swimmers and divers before their final home meet. The seniors recognized were All-Americans Santo Condorelli, Dylan Carter, Ralf Tribuntsov, and Dashiell Enos, as well as Pawel Furtek, Jon Knox, Jason O’Brien and Dylan Marin.

The Trojans got off to a great start, winning the 200y medley relay. Freshman Robert Glinta, junior Carsten Vissering, and seniors Carter and Condorelli won the relay with a total time of 1:25.44, a season-best for the Trojans in this event. They were led by anchor Condorelli’s 19.35.

After being swept by Stanford in the second event, the 1000y free, USC rattled off three straight first-place finishes.

Carter helped his team in a big way again in the 200y free, winning with a time of 1:36.07. Glinta followed suit in the 100y back, winning in 46.16. Patrick Mulcare placed second in this race at 47.43. Vissering kept things on track for USC, winning the 100y breast in 53.41.

Stanford responded with a win in the 200y fly, before Condorelli captured first place in the 50y free with a time of 19.73.

After a Stanford win in the first diving event of the day, Carter came through yet again, winning the 100y free in 44.16. This was followed up by a Mulcare win in the 200y back in 1:42.24. Glinta’s 1:42.45 time was good for a second-place finish in this race.

Stanford won events 11-13, including a sweep of the 500y free. However, USC rallied in the final three events of the day.

Henry Fusaro, Enos, and Marin combined for a sweep of 1-meter springboard with scores of 338.33, 319.88, and 301.05 respectively. Mulcare then won the 200y IM for his second first-place effort of the day. Finally, in the final event of the day, the 400y free, Carter, Tribuntsov, Justin Nguyen, and Glinta grabbed first place in 2:56.06. Nguyen led the way with a 20.80 time.

Next, the Trojans travel to Salt Lake City in two weeks for a meet with the Utah Utes on Feb. 17 to close the regular season.