Texas A&M’s Breeja Larson Defends 100 Breast Title With Meet Record

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, March 22. WITH Southern California's Kasey Carlson pushing her the entire way as the two split 27.17s at the 50, Texas A&M's Breeja Larson defended her title in the 100-yard breast with a scorching 57.63 at the NCAA Division I Women's Championships.

Larson posted a 30.46 coming home for the third-fastest time ever. That swim broke her meet record of 57.71 from her win in 2012, and now gives Larson the top four times in the existence of the event. She's also the first to defend the title since back-to-back wins from Jessica Hardy and Rebecca Soni in 2006-07 and 2008-09, and becomes just the eight swimmer with more than one win in the event.

Carlson used her tremendous first 50 to wind up with a second-place time of 58.36. That swim clipped her lifetime best of 58.46 from 2011, and jumped her to eighth all time in the event's history. The third fastest time of finals came in the consolation heat as Tennessee's Molly Hannis posted a 58.84 to take ninth overall, while Columbia's Katie Meili wound up third in the A final with a 59.14.

Arkansas' Nicole Daniels touched fourth in 59.18, while Notre Dame's Emma Reaney earned fifth in 59.19. Texas' Laura Sogar (59.25), Arizona's Ellyn Baumgardner (59.37) and Arizona's Chelsey Salli (59.79) also competed in the A final.

Georgia still held the lead with 256 points, while Tennessee added to its second-place tally with 219.5 points. California (210), Arizona (196) and Southern California (168) stood third, fourth and fifth heading into the 100 back.

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