By Chris J. Starrs<\/p>\n
ATHENS, Georgia, March 18. IN a dazzling display of depth and fortitude \u2013 plus some timely assistance from Arizona \u2013 Auburn won its fourth NCAA Women\u2019s Division I Swimming and Diving Championship in the last five years Saturday night at the Gabrielsen Natatorium on the campus of the University of Georgia.<\/p>\n
Coming into the final day of the three-day championships, the Tigers trailed defending national champion Georgia by 53 points, but outscored the Bulldogs 192-136 to take the title by a 518.5-515.5 score. <\/p>\n
\u201cI have never experienced anything that thrilling,\u201d said Auburn coach David Marsh. \u201cThat\u2019s the best day we\u2019ve ever had in Auburn swimming. We didn\u2019t have that great a morning, but we just came alive. Our passion paid off. One after another, we performed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s huge for us, but at the same time we can\u2019t focus on any other team but ourselves,\u201d added Hayley Peirsol. \u201cIf you get too wrapped up in that, you lose sight of what you\u2019re really here for. This has just been really fun and it\u2019s a great way to end the meet, no matter what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although Arizona finished a distant third with 415 points, the Wildcats\u2019 400-yard freestyle relay team \u2013 Courtney Cashion, Jenna Gresdal, Whitney Myers and Lacey Nymeyer \u2013 narrowly topped Georgia in the final event to give Auburn the edge. Auburn came into the 21st and last event with a five-point lead over Georgia, which had to either win the event (and the 40 points that went with it) or best the Tigers by at least three places.<\/p>\n
But it was not to be as Arizona\u2019s Myers and Nymeyer overcame a quick start by Georgia\u2019s Mary DeScenza and a swift final leg by Kara Lynn Joyce to finish in a NCAA-record time of 3:12.77. The Bulldogs also bested the American record with a time of 3:13.38. The previous national record was 3:13.47, set by Georgia in 2005. In addition to spoiling Georgia\u2019s shot at the NCAA crown, the Wildcats\u2019 relay team also denied the Bulldogs their third consecutive 400 relay championship. Auburn came in third in the 400-yard freestyle relay in a time of 3:15.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe knew Arizona was the team to beat,\u201d said Georgia\u2019s Tricia Harm, who swam the second leg of the relay. \u201cWe had a chance to win and that\u2019s all you can ask for. The American record is great and we\u2019re happy with it, but it\u2019s still hard to go out like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Auburn, which came into Saturday night\u2019s finals with six swimmers and one relay team qualified for championship events (and another eight competitors qualified for consolation finals), got the night off to a promising start when Hayley Peirsol won the 1,650-yard freestyle in a pool-record 15:49.48, bettering SMU\u2019s Flavia Rigamonti (15:54.67) and Auburn\u2019s Adrienne Binder (15:57.64), who set the previous pool mark of 15:51.70 in 2004.<\/p>\n
With three qualifiers in the top 16 of the event, the Tigers picked up 36 points to Georgia\u2019s 21, and Auburn moved closer to Georgia after the 200-backstroke, which California\u2019s Helen Silver won in a pool record time of 1:53.01 (besting the previous standard of 1:53.15, set by Auburn\u2019s Kristy Coventry in 2004). Georgia\u2019s Aleksandra Putra was second at 1:54.59 and Kelly Harrigan of Rutgers finished third at 1:54.77. <\/p>\n
After two events, Auburn had scored 75 points while Georgia tallied 38 points, bringing the score to 416-405 in favor of the Bulldogs. The two teams were knotted at 436 after the 100-yard freestyle, which Georgia\u2019s Joyce won in a Gabrielsen Natatorium time of 47.41, capturing her third consecutive title in the event and topping the pool record of 48.05, set by Martina Moracova of SMU in 1999. <\/p>\n
Auburn again had three competitors in the top 16, amassing 31 points to Georgia\u2019s 21. Arizona\u2019s Nymeyer was second at 48.43 while California\u2019s Silver finished third at 48.47.<\/p>\n
The Tigers took the lead for good after the 200-yard breaststroke, which Rebecca Soni of Southern Cal won in a time of 2:09.37. Florida\u2019s Vipa Bernhardt was second at 2:10.37 and Auburn\u2019s Alicia Jensen came in third at 2:10.81. The Tigers had three swimmers in the event, and picked up 33.5 points while Georgia managed but 11.5, giving Auburn a 469.5-447.5 advantage.<\/p>\n
DeScenza gave the Bulldog faithful a glimmer of hope and made NCAA history in the process, winning the 200-yard butterfly in a time of 1:53.78, the fourth time she captured the event, tying Mary T. Meagher of California, who won the 200-yard butterfly in 1983, 1985, 1986 and 1987. DeScenza is the only swimmer in NCAA history to win the event in four consecutive years. <\/p>\n
UCLA\u2019s Kimberly Vandenberg finished second at 1:56.02 while Arizona\u2019s Myers was third at 1:56.26.DeScenza\u2019s victory put Georgia to within five points of Auburn, heading into the decisive meet-ending 400-yard freestyle relay.<\/p>\n
But before the relay could begin, the capacity crowd waited some 40 minutes through the platform diving finals, which was won by Kentucky\u2019s Taryn Ignacio, who scored 335.30 points. Hawaii\u2019s Rui Wang was second with 320 points and Indiana\u2019s 317.05 points.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t expect anything,\u201d said Ignacio. \u201cI just tried to stay calm and focus on each dive. I was just happy to be in the finals.\u201d<\/p>\n
Georgia finished the weekend with eight titles, while Arizona had five and Auburn garnered two. Southern Cal had three, California had two and Kentucky captured one crown.<\/p>\n
Georgia\u2019s Joyce won titles in the 50-yard freestyle, the 200-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle, as well as the 200-yard medley relay and the 800-yard freestyle relay. DeScenza earned championships in the 100-yard butterfly, the 200-yard butterfly and the relays. Arizona\u2019s Myers picked up two titles, winning the 200-yard individual medley and the 400-yard individual medley, and Southern Cal\u2019s Blythe Hartley won the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events, capturing the latter for the second consecutive year.<\/p>\n
At the conclusion of the championships, Georgia\u2019s Jack Bauerle was named Swimming Coach of the Year while Georgia\u2019s Joyce was Swimmer of the Year. Southern Cal\u2019s Hongping Li was Diving Coach of the Year and Hartley was Diver of the Year.<\/p>\n