Georgia Takes 800 Free Relay, Records

By Dan Mihalik

WEST LAFAYETTE, Indiana, March 18- The Georgia Bulldogs wrapped up yet another championship as they ran away with the 800 freestyle relay. Its time of 7:01.03 set a new NCAA Meet and American record, was enough to beat Arizona by almost two seconds. Auburn finished a distant third, coming in with a time of 7:03.75.

"We had high expectations coming into this race," Kara Lynn Joyce said. "Winning would – and did – set us up for taking home a national championship as a team tomorrow night. We knew this race would be close between Auburn, Florida and us."

Mary Descenza of Georgia led the ‘Dawgs off in a big way by achieving a new pool record in the 200 freestyle. Her split of 1:44.14 paced Georgia to first place.

SEC rival Florida earned fourth place, while California and Southern Methodist took fifth and sixth, respectively. Wisconsin, which swam in the second heat, was paced by anchor Carly Piper, who came from behind against USC and earned the victory in heat two. Their time of 7:12.70 was good for seventh while Southern Cal finished in eighth. The quartet finished with a time of 7:14.32.

After the second day of competition, the Bulldogs continue to have a stranglehold on the rest of the field. They have 422.5 points, while defending champion Auburn is in serious jeopardy of losing their title. They are in second with 329 points and Arizona is in third with 290 points.

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