NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships: Stanford Tops 200 Free Relay

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AUBURN, Alabama, March 15. STANFORD's foursome of Samantha Woodward (22.07), Madeline Schaefer (21.80), Andrea Murez (21.79) and Elizabeth Webb (21.19) blasted the pool record with a winning time of 1:26.85 in the women's 200-yard freestyle relay to open up the NCAA Division I Swimming and Diving Championships. That performance shot down the 1:27.11 set by California earlier in the day during prelims.

Arizona's American, U.S. Open and NCAA record of 1:26.20 by Lara Jackson, Lindsey Kelly, Justine Schluntz and Taylor Baughman from 2009 withstood the attack.

The victory is Stanford's sixth all time, moving the Cardinal into sole possession of third behind Texas (9) and Arizona (7). Previous Stanford wins came in 1982 and 1983 as well as 1986 before going back-to-back with wins in 1993 and 1994 powered by Jenny Thompson.

“It was a really big thing [for us to win the first race],” Murez said. “We were really excited. We were second out of prelims, and were the underdog. But, we really wanted to take it over, so we are really happy [with the win].”

California's Kaylin Bing, Liv Jensen, Colleen Fotsch and Katherine Raatz took second in 1:27.22, better than the time (1:27.36) the team used to win the title a year ago. Arizona's Margo Geer, Kaitlyn Flederbach, Emma Darlington and Aubrey Peacock took third in 1:27.45. Geer had the second-fastest leadoff with a 21.69.

Texas (1:27.81) and Auburn (1:27.82) placed fourth and fifth. Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace will have one more shot to down Lara Jackson's U.S. Open and NCAA record in the 50 free later tonight after clocking a leadoff time of 21.65 for the hosts.

Tennessee (1:28.55), Missouri (1:28.86) and SMU (1:29.30) placed sixth through eighth.

Georgia's Madeline Locus, Jessica Graber, Lauren Harrington and Megan Romano clinched the consolation heat win with a 1:28.00, while Wisconsin's Rebecca Thompson, Ivy Martin, Rebecka Palm and Ruby Martin finished second in 1:28.51. Texas A&M (1:28.84), Florida (1:29.09), Maryland (1:30.10), Southern California (1:30.16), Penn State (1:30.54) and Boise State (1:30.77) made up the rest of the consolation heat.

Stanford took the early lead with 40 points, while California held second with 34 points. Arizona (32), Texas (30) and Auburn (28) made up the top five.

Editorial coverage of all NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships is brought to you by our sponsor Colorado Time Systems.

Swimming World's NCAA Division I Women's Championships Notes Package Sponsored by NISCA

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