No. 3 Stanford men’s swimming got off to a great start for the season with a solid 123-82 win against Washington last Saturday at the Avery Aquatic Center. The win takes the team’s overall record on the season to 2-0 and overall Pac-1o record to 1-0. Stanford grabbed first place finishes in 7 of the 11 events in the entire meet.

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Junior Chris Ash and the rest of his teammates had little trouble in disposing of Washington last weekend, winning by the score of 132-82. With two wins on the season, the team now looks ahead to Friday’s meet at the University of Georgia. #gallery http://daily.stanford.edu/image/full/8161
Stanford Daily File Photo

Junior Chris Ash and the rest of his teammates had little trouble in disposing of Washington last weekend, winning by the score of 132-82. With two wins on the season, the team now looks ahead to Friday’s meet at the University of Georgia.

“The team uses the early season meets to race hard, learn something new, and make improvements. It was the freshmen’s first home meet, so it was fun to see them step up and contribute,” said junior captain Paul Kornfeld.

The meet began with the 400 medley relay, where the Stanford “A” team of sophomore Eugene Godsoe, Kornfeld, freshman Austin Staab, and junior Jason Dunford captured first place in 3:20.52. Washington’s “A” team fell to third place behind the Stanford “B” team of junior captain Nate Cass, freshman John Criste, junior B.J. Johnson and freshman Jake Allen.

Senior Noa Sakamoto, who recently gained a spot on the national open water team, held off a challenge by Washington’s Scott Spansail to win the 1000 free in 9:17.15 with Spainsail coming in at 9:17.72. Freshman distance free specialist Scotty Korotkin finished third in 9:36.08.

Senior Phillip Morrison grabbed the top spot in the 200 free in 1:40.90, while sophomore Andrew Trepp finished third in 1:41.60. Washington’s Ivan Perhat won the 50 free in 20.80 followed by Stanford’s Jake Allen with a mark of 21.57.

“The early season meets are tremendously important for getting the little things right,” said senior Danny Beal. “Because we’re in hard training right now, the speed associated with later season meets might not be there yet, but these meets are the perfect opportunity to work on starts, turns, breathing.

“All of the little things might not seem to make a difference, but with only tenths of a second separating guys at NCAAs, doing the little things right will make the difference between sitting on the pool deck and scoring points at NCAA Finals. It’s these early meets where you form those habits.”

Nate Cass won the 400 individual medley in 4:00.89, while freshman Josh Charnin-Aker finished second with a time of 4:01.67. Andre Blythe of Washington won the 200 fly in 1:50.68, out-touching freshman David Mosko who timed at 1:51.47. In the 100 free, Washington’s Ivan Perhat won in 45.12 while Austin Staab came in second place with a time of 46.11. The 200 back saw Eugene Godsoe edge out the field in 1:47.65 while Washington’s Spainsail claimed his second victory in the 500 free with a mark of 4:31.03. Stanford’s Morrison and Mosko followed closely behind with times of 4:37.89 and 4:38.04, respectively.

Stanford’s breaststroke squad swept all four places with Kornfeld leading the way in 2:03.71, followed by junior Paul Zaich (2:04.73), John Criste (2:05.22), and Chris Ash (2:06.83). Jason Dunford, Staab, junior Dan Priestley, and Godsoe won the 200 free relay in 1:22.32.