With a favorable final day at the Pac-10 championship meet in Federal Way, Wash., the Cal women's swimming team captured its first conference title since joining the Pac-10 in 1987.

Saturday marked another record-setting day for the Bears, who racked up 1,550 points-their highest point total ever at a championship meet. It was also the highest point total recorded by a school since Stanford scored 1,573 points in 1997, and the 211-point margin of victory was the largest since the Cardinal's 262-point win in 2005.

The Bears entered the final day of competition with a comfortable lead in the standings and concluded the four-day competition with one NCAA record, two Pac-10 meet records and three school records.

When asked about how the team will move forward, assistant coach Kristen Lewis-Cunnane said, "We talked about that last night. We remind the team that while what we've done so far is amazing, there is much more room to improve. We need to have balance between celebrating and keeping a cool head.

"The team understands that the eventual goal is in March at the NCAA championships. I'm excited to see how the girls respond."

With a 4-4 record in dual meets this year, Cal surprised most of its opponents and fans with the win. Depth played a large role in the Bears' first Pac-10 championship, as they had nine different swimmers with top-three finishes, and every eligible swimmer contributed with points.

"Dual meets are more about who has superstars," Lewis-Cunnane said. "Championship meets are not only about superstars, but also about who can back them up. We had everyone contribute, including all the divers. Each swimmer had a different role, and they all did a great job of executing that role to the best of their ability."

In the final event of the championship, the Bears' foursome of Erica Dagg, Madison Kennedy, Dana Vollmer and Hannah Wilson set an NCAA record in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:11.05.

Vollmer and Wilson combined for 13 top-three finishes in the championship meet. Although Vollmer's performance was staggering-six NCAA-qualifying times in the competition-it was somewhat expected by her coaches. On the other hand, sophomore Wilson staged a coming-out party with seven top-three finishes and four NCAA-qualifying times of her own.

"I don't really have words to explain (Wilson's) performance this week," Lewis-Cunnane said. "She has made a big change in her training this year and I'm proud to see that hard work pay off. I know we are going to see a lot more out of Hannah as time goes on, and I'm really excited to be a part of that."

Cal's most dominant performance of the conference championships came in the 200-yard individual free, in which the Bears had five different swimmers compete in the eight-swimmer final.

Vollmer, competing in the latter half of back-to-back races, finished first with a time of 1:42.68. She entered the last 50 meters in third place but made two flawless turns to pass the field and win the race.

Freshman Sara Isakovic, who won the silver medal at the Beijing Olympics in this event, finished in second with a time of 1:43.00.

The Bears had nine different swimmers finish with NCAA qualifying times, and they will compete in at least eight events at the NCAA championships.

Tags: CAL WOMEN'S SWIMMING, DANA VOLLMER, PAC-10 CHAMPIONSHIPS