With two relay finals completed, the No. 5 Arizona men’s swimming team sits in third place with 546 points after last night at the Pacific 10 Conference Championships in Seattle.

In the 800-yard freestyle relay, the team of senior Adam Ritter, junior Darian Townsend, sophomore Nicolas Nilo and freshman Jean Basson defended its title with a time of 6:20.08 for the Wildcats (6-3, 3-2).

“”Winning the 800 relay was really a team effort by those four guys, and to repeat their Pac-10 championship in that event is pretty special,”” UA head coach Frank Busch said.

In the first relay of the night, the 200y medley relay, the “”A”” team of juniors Albert Subirats and Ivan Barnes with sophomore Nicolas Nilo and freshman Jordan Smith came in third place behind Stanford and California’s “”A”” teams.

“”(In the) first relay we were a little tight because it’s a sprint relay, and we really … We’re just not quite there yet,”” Busch said.

He added that the team’s success in relays could be attributed to the camaraderie of the swimmers.

“”Relays, I think are a measure of your team’s focus and desire, and … obviously we do that well,”” Busch said. “”They know how to come together as a group. They did a great job.””

The team also swam three preliminary events, including the 500y and 50y freestyle and the 200y individual medley. The finals of the same events will take place tomorrow night.

The only first-place finisher in the preliminaries was Ritter in the 200y IM, followed by his teammate Townsend in second place.

Basson finished second in the 500y freestyle, while Subirats tallied another second-place finish in the 50y freestyle with Nilo coming in fourth in the same event.

“”I think so far, so good,”” Busch said. “”If these guys keep racing hard, then that’s the goal. The goal is not how we finish this meet.””