Jan. 31, 2012

STANFORD, Calif.-- No. 3-ranked Stanford (6-1) will head to Southern California in a two-day, top-six showdown featuring the Cardinal, No. 5 USC (3-1) and No. 6 California.

USC and Cal will dual on Friday at 2 p.m., while the Cardinal and USC will dual on Saturday at noon. The other non-dualing Bay Area team will compete as well each day. Stanford closes out the regular season with the Bears on February 18.

Stanford won its first six dual meets this season prior to losing to top-ranked Arizona two weekends ago. All three programs have times ranked in the national top-20 across a variety of events, with 18 times ranked in the top-five across the 14 individual events.

In the 200 back, Stanford has three swimmers ranked in the top-eight, led by freshman David Nolan's time of 1:42.05. Alex Lendrum has the nation's second-fastest time (1:40.82), while Cal has two swimmers in the top-20.

The 100 fly is also a heavily flavored Cardinal event, with Nolan ranking No. 6 (47.04) and Bobby Bollier (47.30) ranking No. 12 among seven swimmers this weekend ranked in the top-20. Bollier also ranks No. 2 in the 200 fly (1:43.47) behind Cal's Tom Shields (1:43.09) in a race with six top-15 times.

Nolan also ranks in the national top-five in the 200 IM, ranking fifth at 1:44.69, behind two USC swimmers Dimitri Colupaev and Alex Lendrum. Stanford's Matt Thompson (No. 11) and Jon Edwards (No. 19) also rank in the top-20. Thompson also has the fourth-fastest 400 IM time, checking in at 3:46.58.

Chad LaTourette, who has not lost a long distance dual match since his freshman year four years ago, ranks No. 1 in the 1000 free (8:59.21 and No. 15 in the 500 free (4:20.71). Cal's Adam Hinshaw is also in the top-10, swimming eight seconds slower and ranking No. 9. Stanford freshman Drew Cosgarea ranks No. 20 in the 500 free.

Diving will be a relatively young affair as Stanford features five underclassmen on its roster, USC has an entirely new squad of two freshmen and a junior newcomer, while Cal has three of its four divers as underclassmen, led by freshman Thomas Selby and sophomore Tyler Pullen.

Olympic hopeful and Stanford freshman Kristian Ipsen has not lost a collegiate meet in the 1 or 3-meter as he prepares for the London World Cup in February. He is one of two freshmen on the squad along with Connor Kuremsky. Sophomores Druv Tyagi and Noah Garcia were Zone qualifiers last year. Senior Taylor Sishc, who won the Stanford Invite platform ahead of Cal's Pullen was also a Zone qualifier.

The sprints have a plethora of swimmers this weekend in the top-20, including the nation's fastest times posted by USC's Vladimire Morozov in the 50 free (19.35) and 100 free (42.32). Nolan rates No. 8 in the 100 free (43.34) which has seven top-20 times just this weekend in Southern California. Stanford junior Aaron Wayne is No. 12 in the 100 free (43.54) and No. 20 in the 50 free (19.85).

Cal has some of the nation's fastest times in the breaststroke, while Stanford's Curtis Lovelace ranks No. 8 in the 200 breast (1:55.67) and No. 14 in the 100 breast (53.93).

Much like the rest of the meet, the relays should also be highly competitive. USC comes in the with fastest 200 and 400 free relay teams with Stanford (No. 11 and No. 4) and Cal (No. 6 and No. 13) also in the top-15. The medley relays should also be a showdown, both this weekend, and at Pac-12's and the NCAA Championships later this season. Each program has top-eight rankings in the 200 and 400 medley relays, with Stanford checking in at No. 8 in the shorter medium and No. 6 in the 400-yard event.

Following the home meet with Cal on February 18, championship season begins. Ipsen and Stanford graduate Cassidy Krug will head to the World Cup in London from February 20 to 26. The Pac-12 Diving Championships will begin on February 22, while the men's four-day Pac-12 Championships begin on February 29. Zone qualifying for the NCAA Diving Championships starts March 8, while the men's NCAA Championships begin March 22.