Four years, four Pacific 10 Conference Championships meets and no individual title for senior Adam Ritter – that is until last night.

Ritter captured his first collegiate career Pac-10 title in the 200-yard individual medley, posting the only title of the No. 5 Arizona men’s swimming and diving team.

“”It was a come from behind swim,”” UA head coach Frank Busch said of Ritter’s performance. “”It’s great for him as a senior to win his first Pac-10 title, very inspiring for the whole team.””

The Wildcats (6-3, 3-2) remain in third place with 217 points behind No. 2 Stanford, which has won the conference meet 24 years in a row, and No. 4 California after last night’s competition in Seattle, which featured three individual and one relay finals events.

“”As a whole, this is probably the best start for men’s Pac-10s we’ve ever had,”” Busch said.

Also in the top eight of the 200y IM was junior Darian Townsend in fifth place.

To kick off the night, freshman Jean Basson finished sixth overall in the 500y freestyle, while posting the only top-eight finish for Arizona in the event.

In the last individual finals event, sophomore Nicolas Nilo tallied a sixth-place finish in the 50y freetyle event.

Rounding off the competition, the Wildcats came out strong once again after a first-place finish in the 800y freestyle relay Wednesday night, finishing third in the 200y freestyle relay with the “”A”” team of Ritter, Townsend, junior Albert Subirats and Nilo.

Busch said he was encouraged by what he saw last night, but he would like to see more men added to the cut for the NCAA Championships, a goal the Wildcats have yet to fulfill.

Diving adds more points for men

For the diving team, freshman Mike Guilfoil finished 10th in the 1-meter diving competition, followed by freshmen Matt Bisordi in 12th place and Craig Sheedy in 13th place.

The men already posted scores for the 10m platform and 3m springboard competition Feb. 8-10 in Seattle.