NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS: Defending Champion Georgia Makes its Move

ATHENS, Georgia, March 17. STARTING out the day in third place behind Arizona and Auburn, defending national champion Georgia made a strong move upward during today’s preliminaries at the 2006 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships at Gabrielsen Natatorium on the University of Georgia campus.

Through six events, the No. 1-ranked Bulldogs – who have not lost at home in their last 50 dual meets and won the national championship here in 1999 – had nine swimmers or relay teams qualify for today’s finals, which begin at 7 p.m. Auburn, ranked second nationally and just 10 points behind Arizona, had seven qualifiers and the Wildcats qualified five.

In today’s first event, the 200-yard medley relay, defending champion Georgia finished second behind Florida State’s team of Christie Raleigh, Lauren Brick, Lauren Sparg and Carrie Ellis. The Seminoles recorded a time of 1:39.01 while the Bulldogs finished at 1:39.25. Florida State and Georgia were followed by Texas (1:39.37), Arizona (1:39.41), California (1:39.47), Auburn (1:39.65), Southern Cal (1:39.67) and Wisconsin (1:40.03).

In the 400-yard individual medley, Auburn made a strong showing as Julie Stupp finished first at 4:10.43, Lauren Duerk was second at 4:12.89 and Adrienne Binder came in third at 4:12.93. The Tiger trio was followed by Stanford’s Kristen Caverly (4:13.14), Arizona’s Whitney Myers (4:13.29), Penn State’s Kaitlin O’Brien (4:13.66), Yi Ting Siow of Wisconsin (4:14.78) and Georgia’s Lauren Conway (4:15.48).

Mary DeScenza began defense of her 100-yard butterfly title by finishing first in today’s preliminaries in a time of 52.07. She was followed by Florida’s Candace Weiman (52.67), Tricia Harm of Georgia (52.87), Chelsea Nagata of California-Irvine (53.18), Caitlin Andrew of Arizona State (53.24), Stanford’s Dana Kirk (53.30), Michigan’s Kaitlyn Brady (53.43) and Tawnie Bethune of Auburn (53.74).

In the 200-yard freestyle preliminaries, Georgia’s Kara Lynn Joyce – who set an American record in the 50-yard freestyle on Thursday night – finished first in a time of 1:44.72, followed by California’s Erin Reilly (1:45), Arizona’s Lacey Nymeyer (1:45.43), Auburn’s Emily Kukors (1:45.89), Ashley Chandler of California (1:46.49), Texas A&M’s Codie Hansen (1:46.43), Georgia’s Jessica Cole (1:46.92) and Georgia's Elizabeth Hill (1:46.96).

Georgia and Arizona both placed swimmers in the 100-yard breaststroke finals, but it was California’s Jessica Hardy who came out on top, finishing in a time of 59.54. Hardy was followed by Georgia’s Sarah Poewe (1:00.44), Florida’s Vipa Bernhardt (1:00.55), Florida Atlantic’s Ellie Weberg (1:00.72), Elizabeth Tinnon of Texas (1:00.97), Lauren Brick of Florida State (1:01.24), Southern Cal’s Rebecca Soni (1:01.31) and Arizona’s Erin Sieper (1:01.35).

In the 100-yard backstroke, Auburn’s Rachel Goh was first at 53.07, followed by Arizona’s Jenna Gresdal (53.19), Virginia’s Brielle White (53.36), Georgia’s Tricia Harm (53.41), Hayley McGregory of Southern Cal (53.48), Nicole Mackey of Hawaii (53.53), Brooke Bishop of Stanford (53.61) and Rutgers’ Kelly Harrigan (53.63).

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