Cal Men's Swimming Tops Pacific, 173-81

STOCKTON, CALIF. – Led by a pair of victories each sophomores Long Gutierrez and Hunter Cobleigh, the Cal men’s swimming team cruised to a 173-81 dual meet win over Pacific Wednesday in Stockton. The Golden Bears, the 2014 NCAA team champions, have now won 16 consecutive dual meets carrying over from the 2011-12 season.

Gutierrez, from Cottonwood, Utah, placed first in both the 100 fly (49.82) and the 1000 free (9:24.73), while Cobleigh from Thousand Oaks, captured the 100 (57.27) and 200 breast (2:04.86).

Other individual winners for David Durden’s squad were junior Jacob Pebley in the 200 free (1:40.30), freshman Justin Lynch in the 200 fly (1:47.99), senior Seth Stubblefield in the 50 free (20.59), sophomore Ryan Murphy in the 100 free (45.01) and junior Trent Williams in the 500 free (4:35.86).

Additionally, the Bears won the opening event, the 200 medley relay, behind the swims of junior Josh Prenot, senior Will Hamilton, freshman Kyle Gornay and junior Tyler Messerschmidt (1:28.00).

Cal will have two more fall non-conference dual meets – Friday, Oct. 17 at 1 p.m. at Spieker Aquatics Complex versus Hawaii, and Friday, Nov. 7 at 1 p.m. at Spieker Aquatics versus Wisconsin. In between those two dual meets, the Bears will be competing in a triple-distance exhibition meet at Stanford on Wednesday, Nov. 5 at 2 p.m. at Avery Aquatics Complex.

The Bears will again vie for an NCAA crown in 2015 after winning national championships in 2011, 2012 and 2014 under Durden. Besides returning defending national champion (100 and 200 backstroke) Murphy, Cal returns NCAA relay champions Stubblefield, Messerschmidt, and senior breaststroker Chuck Katis, among several others who have shined during Pac-12 and NCAA championship competition. The Bears also feature a stellar 2014-15 freshman class.