BERKELEY - The Cal men's swimming team kicks off its spring season with a trip to Arizona as the Bears kick off a run of four-straight Pac-12 dual meets by taking on Arizona and Arizona State. Competition begins Friday at 1 p.m. against the Wildcats and continues Saturday at 11 a.m. against the Sun Devils. Saturday's meet in Tempe will be streamed live by Arizona State.

A strong fall season ended with the Bears earning the No. 1 national ranking from the College Swimming Coaches Association of America. The honor came in large part from a standout team performance at the Georgia Fall Invitational where Cal won every relay en route to the team title. Senior Ryan Murphy was particularly integral and was awarded the Pac-12 Swimmer of the Month award after winning seven of the eight races he competed in.

Murphy wasn't the only individual standout for the Bears in Georgia. Sophomore Andrew Seliskar swam to NCAA "A" qualifying times in both the 200 fly and 400 IM while freshman Pawel Sendyk was just one-one hundreth shy of the A time in the 50 free. Nick Norman (1,650 free), Hunter Cobleigh (200 breast), Justin Lynch (100 fly) and Michael Jensen (200 free) also scored individual wins. Cal owns the nation's fastest time in the 200 and 400 medley relays as well as the 400 free relay heading into the weekend. 

LAST TIME OUT
With wins in every relay as well as seven individual victories, Cal cruised to a dominant showing in winning the team title at the Georgia Fall Invitational. The Bears' score of 859 outdistanced the host Bulldogs, who finished second at 710. The meet put a cap on a quiet fall campaign for Cal, which also scored a dual meet win over Pacific and enjoyed several good swims at the Pacific Invitational as well as a good team performance against Stanford in the Triple Distance format.

DIVING IN
Freshman diver Connor Callahan made his first mark as a Golden Bear at the Bruin Invitational, placing second on the platform on Jan. 15. The Cary, N.C. native capped a solid weekend in Los Angeles with that performance but also dove to a fourth-place finish in the 3-meter. His score in both the 3-meter and platform events achieved Zone qualifying times in just his second collegiate competition.

ABOUT ARIZONA

• The Wildcats enter the weekend with a 2-1 dual meet record after earning fall wins over Hawai'i and Utah. Their lone loss came on Nov. 5 in a 165-129 decision against USC.
• Arizona competed at the Texas Invitational to close out the fall and achieved a host of NCAA "B" standards during four days in Austin. Sophomore Chatham Dobbs has been a key contributor so far this season and holds the team's top times in the 50 free and 100 fly as well as being part of four Wildcat relays.
• Cal and Arizona also met to open the spring season in 2015 with the Bears earning a 164.5-118.5 victory in Berkeley. 

ABOUT ARIZONA STATE

• The Sun Devils get their spring season started with a perfect 4-0 dual meet record thanks to wins over Utah, BYU, Denver and USC. A 156.50-142.50 win over the Trojans served as a highlight of the fall dual slate.
• ASU also competed at the Art Adamson Invitational and came away with the team title, scoring 965.5 points to beat second-place Texas A&M which had 917.5. Senior Richard Bohus led the way, breaking school records in both the 100 and 200 back.
• Cal rolled to a 183-107 Senior Day win over Arizona State in 2015. 

ON DECK
The Bears return to Berkeley for their final two dual meets of the season. USC comes to town on Feb. 3 for a 2 p.m. showdown at Spieker Aquatics Complex. On Feb. 18, Cal hosts Stanford on Senior Day for the Golden Bears and the quintet of Cobleigh, Jonathan Fiepke, Long Gutierrez, Murphy and Dillon Williams will swim collegiately for the final time in front of home fans.