Dave Durden

For three years running, Cal has finished runner-up in collegiate men’s swimming and diving’s biggest stage, where the lights shine the brightest and the crowd roars the loudest.

The Bears compiled 971 points, more than 200 points ahead of runner-up No. 1 Cardinal, which finished with 769. No. 9 USC finished third with 549.33 points.

The team to beat at this meet is the two-time defending Pac-12 champion No. 1 Stanford (6-0, 4-0), which climbed to the top of the ladder after edging out No. 2 Cal (5-1, 4-1) to finish its season undefeated.

Cal (5-1, 4-1) has not been down this late in a meet all year — there was never pressure in the last few events because the Bears had always pulled away from their opponent by then.

A battle of the West Coast’s best awaits as No. 1 Cal men’s swim caps off the dual meet season at No. 5 Stanford in a clash of Pac-12’s top two squads.

The Bears received contributions throughout the lineup, not only taking first place on 10 of 14 swim events but racking up second, third and fourth place finishes even when they didn’t.

USC will be the highest ranked head-to-head opponent Cal has faced thus far this season.

Emotions aside, the nation’s top squad put up dominating performances on both days, with Bears swimmers emerging victorious in 13 out of 14 events against the Sun Devils on Friday and 12 out of 14 against the Wildcats on Saturday.

ASU will also have star diver sophomore Youssef Selim, a former Olympian who finished with at least a 60-point margin in every event at the Northern Arizona University Lumberjack Diving Invitational.