NCAA Div. I, Day One Finals: Mason Takes 500, Piper Fades

By Dan Mihalik

WEST LAFAYETTE, Indiana, March 17. IT may have been an upset, but Emily Mason wasn’t the one crying. She swam the fifth fastest 500 freestyle all-time, repeating as champion in the event.

"I very happy, especially since I'm a senior," Mason said. "It's great to defend my title. It was one of the fastest heats I've ever seen, so I 'm really proud of my accomplishment."

Top seed Carly Piper finished a distant fourth, swimming helplessly next to Mason, who swam away with the new pool record with a time of 4:37.11, finished almost two seconds ahead of second place finisher Caroline Burckle.

Freshman Elizabeth Hill of Flordia finished safely in third, as she was .34 seconds behind Burckle and .56 seconds ahead of Piper.

Flavia Rigamonti finished in fifth place, while Georgia teammates Laura Conway and Anna Miller finished in sixth and seventh for the Bulldogs. Hayley Peirsol of Auburn finished in eighth place for the Tigers.

FINALS RESULTS
EVENT: 2 WOMEN's 500 Yard FREESTYLE

NCAA Record: 4:34.39 JANET EVANS STANFORD 1990
AMERICAN Record: 4:34.39 JANET EVANS STANFORD 1990
US OPEN Record: 4:34.39 JANET EVANS STANFORD 1990
POOL RECORD: 4:41.58 CARLY PIPER WISCONSIN 2003
QUALIFYING FOR "A" CUT: 4:45.46

RESULTS of FINALS

RANK NAME YEAR TEAM PRELIM TIME

CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL

1) MASON, EMILY SR ARIZONA 4:40.53 4:37.11**
:53.48 :55.83 :55.34 :56.09 :56.37
** POOL RECORD:
2) BURCKLE, CAROLINE FR FLORIDA 4:40.50 4:38.89
:54.14 :56.33 :56.64 :56.58 :55.20
3) HILL, ELIZABETH FR GEORGIA 4:41.09 4:39.25
:53.77 :56.98 :56.33 :56.33 :55.84
4) PIPER, CARLY SR WISCONSIN 4:39.71 4:39.81
:54.10 :56.49 :56.91 :56.87 :55.44
5) RIGAMONTI, FLAVIA JR S.M.U. 4:43.07 4:40.61
:54.02 :56.66 :57.08 :57.23 :55.62
6) CONWAY, LAURA JR GEORGIA 4:41.98 4:41.75
:54.57 :56.50 :56.87 :57.12 :56.69
7) MILLER, ANNA FR GEORGIA 4:42.75 4:43.64
:54.53 :57.42 :57.25 :58.09 :56.35
8) PEIRSOL, HAYLEY SO AUBURN 4:43.17 4:44.09
:54.29 :56.94 :57.45 :58.01 :57.40

CONSOLATION FINAL

9) CHANDLER, ASHLEY JR CALIFORNIA 4:44.18 4:43.33
:55.07 :57.89 :57.05 :56.93 :56.39
10) KELLER, KALYN SO SOUTHERN CAL. 4:43.66 4:43.47
:55.66 :57.87 :57.06 :57.10 :55.78
11) CARMAN, ANJA FR S.M.U. 4:44.69 4:43.54
:55.12 :57.14 :57.66 :57.66 :55.96
12) MAUST, CLAIRE SO GEORGIA 4:45.67 4:45.26
:54.92 :57.63 :57.83 :57.81 :57.07
13) ROUTH, KIM JR CLEMSON 4:44.69 4:45.52
:55.53 :57.74 :57.73 :58.18 :56.34
14) STOWERS, JULIA SR TENNESSEE 4:45.64 4:45.69
:55.26 :57.39 :57.42 :57.92 :57.70
15) MORRIS, ERIN SO PENN. STATE 4:44.60 4:46.52
:55.64 :57.87 :58.03 :57.88 :57.10
16) LAVELL, LIZ SR MARYLAND 4:44.12 4:48.98
:55.21 :58.09 :58.43 :59.18 :58.07

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