FEDERAL WAY, Wash. -- Freshman Kevin Cordes and the 400 medley and 200 free relay teams led the Arizona men's swimming team into fourth place Thursday on the first day of the NCAA championships.
Cordes, who swam the breaststroke on the 400 medley relay, recorded a time of 50.62 in his leg to give the Wildcats a runner-up finish.
Sophomores Giles Smith and Mitchell Friedemann and senior Kelley Wyman rounded out the relay.
In the 200 free relay, Wyman, Friedemann, senior Adam Small and sophomore Tommy Gutman posted a third-place finish, just .04 seconds behind runner-up Auburn and .17 seconds behind leader California.
Additionally, five Wildcats recorded top-10 finishes.
Senior Austen Thompson and sophomore Miles Joye finished fifth and seventh in the 200 IM, respectively, while senior Cory Chitwood finished first in the consolation heat.
Senior Ben Grado also won the consolation round on the 1m board, while Small posted a 10th-place finish in the 50 free.
As a team, the Wildcats scored a total of 118 points, their most since scoring 137 in 2008.
“We have more points than I thought we would have going into Day 2, but we will need to have some solid swims in the next couple of days,” Arizona head coach Eric Hansen said. “We just need to be strong, and our depth is really going to start to show a lot tomorrow and Saturday.”
ESPN3 will stream the championship sessions Friday and Saturday. Coverage of the final sessions Friday and Saturday will also be broadcast on ESPNU at 9:30 a.m. Arizona time on Sunday.
In addition, all preliminary and final sessions will be streamed live on www.goseattleu.com.
ARIZONA RESULTS
200 Free Relay
3. Small, Wyman, Friedemann, Gutman – 1:16.71
500 Free
16. Matt Barber – 4:19.40
200 IM
5. Austen Thompson – 1:43.16
7. Woody Joye – 1:44.71
9. Cory Chitwood – 1:43.11
50 Free
10. Adam Small – 19.46
1m
9. Ben Grado – 396.20
400 Medley Relay
2. Friedemann, Cordes, Smith, Wyman – 3:04.83
TEAM STANDINGS
1. California, 157.5
2. Stanford, 140
3. Texas, 128.5
4. Arizona, 118
