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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Cal Poly junior Peter Kline posted the 21st-fastest time in the preliminaries of the 400 individual medley Saturday at the NCAA Division I National Swimming and Diving Championships.

But Kline's time of 3 minutes, 48.66 seconds fell 1.62 seconds short of advancing to the consolation final in the event.

Kline's personal best in the event is 3:46.79, a school record he set at the Big West Conference Championships last month and a mark that would have advanced him to the consolation final.

On Friday, Kline broke the school record in the 200 individual medley, but also failed to advance to the finals in the event. He has one more event on his schedule -- the 200 backstroke -- on Sunday.

The start of the three-day meet was delayed 24 hours due to illness in 18 of the student-athletes and one coach. The meet will now end Sunday.

Kline lowered the school record to 1 minute, 47.82 seconds in the 200 IM, shaving .04 of a second off the mark he set at the Big West Conference Championships last month. His mark was good enough for 43rd place but only the top 16 advance to the championship and consolation finals. The 16th-best time in the event Friday was 1:44.75.

Kline is seeking to become Cal Poly’s first Division I All-American in over 40 years. On March 10, he became Cal Poly’s first qualifier for the Division I championships since the university’s athletics program was elevated to Division I in 1994.

The meet is being held at The Bill and Mae McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion on the campus of The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.

Kline, a graduate of San Joaquin Memorial High School in Fresno, qualified automatically in the 400 individual medley with the 17th-fastest time in the field and accepted invitations to compete in the 200 individual medley and 200 backstroke.

Former Mustangs Gene Lenz, John (Jack) Adam and Frank Brooks were NCAA Division I All-Americans in the late 1950s and early 1960s before Division II competition was instituted in 1964.

Kline’s best time in the 200 backstroke is 1:44.85, the 33rd-best time in the field. He had the 17th-fastest time in the 400 IM and was 51st in the 200 individual medley field.

Kline captured Big West Conference titles in the 200 backstroke and 400 individual medley and placed second in the 200 individual medley last month at the Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool in Long Beach.

In the 2009 Big West finals, Kline placed second in the 200 backstroke and fourth in both the 200 individual medley and 400 individual medley, setting school records in all three events.

He was a Mid-Major All-American as a freshman, qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team Swim Trials and set new Cal Poly records in the 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke and 400 individual medley.

Kline was a CIF-Central Section champion in the 200 individual medley while attending San Joaquin Memorial High School and set section Division II records in the 200 individual medley and 500 freestyle.

He is an agriculture engineering major concentrating on systems management.