Margo Geer Finally Made it to the Top in 50 Freestyle at NCAA Championships

Event coverage sponsored by SpeedoUSA

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, March 21. ARIZONA's Margo Geer now has her moment in the spotlight in the women's 50 yard freestyle, capturing the NCAA title with a 21.73. It was a slow progression to the top of the podium for the Wildcat junior. She took third as a freshman, then finished runner-up to Cal's Liv Jensen last year.

Geer has actually been faster than her event-winning 21.73, clocking a 21.64 at last year's NCAA Championships behind Jensen's 21.48, but at NCAAs the clock doesn't matter — only who touches the wall first.

Geer's win marks Arizona's fifth title in the event's history. Geer joins Diane Johnson (1982), Ashley Tappin (1995) and Lara Jackson (2008, 2009) as Wildcat victors in the event.

Georgia's Megan Romano raced to second in 21.88, clipping Tennessee's Faith Johnson (21.89) by the slimmest of margins. Johnson had outside smoke on her mind as she turned in 10.55 to lead the way at the 25-yard mark from lane 1, but couldn't hold off Geer and Romano down the stretch shortly after helping the Lady Volunteers to their first relay title ever in the 200 free relay at the beginning of the night.

Johnson's teammate Caroline Simmons deadheated with Stanford's Maddy Schaefer for fourth with matching 22.01s, while Wisconsin's Ivy Martin claimed sixth overall in 22.03. USC's Kasey Carlson (22.06) and Georgia's Chantal Van Landeghem (22.10) earned seventh and eighth in the finale. Florida's Natalie Hinds won the B final in 22.12.

Georgia kept piling on the points in what has been a huge first night, tallying 137 points after the splash-and-dash. Southern California stood second with 90 points, while Tennessee jumped to third with 81.5 points. Arizona (73) and California (70) held fourth and fifth after the event.

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