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AUSTIN, Texas, March 19. THE Georgia foursome of Morgan Scroggy (47.58), Megan Romano (47.03), Melanie Margalis (48.77) and Allison Schmitt (47.65) cleared the American record in the women's 400-yard freestyle relay to close out the NCAA Division I Women's Championships. Meanwhile, California gave head coach Teri McKeever her second career NCAA team title by swimming a clean relay.
Georgia clocked a time of 3:11.03 to clip the 3:11.14 American record previously held by Stanford. The Cardinal's Kate Dwelley, Samantha Woodward, Elaine Breeden and Julia Smit turned in a 3:11.14 during the 2009 NCAA Division I Women's Championships. The win is Georgia's fifth in the history of the event at NCAAs, tying Florida and Texas for second behind Stanford. Previous Bulldog victories came in 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2005.
Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace nearly cleared her U.S. Open and NCAA record (46.81 x2) in the 100-yard free with a dominant lead leg of 46.82. She now owns four of the top five times, with Natalie Coughlin (46.85) the only other sub-47 second female on the planet. Auburn's team of Vanderpool-Wallace, Caitlin Geary, Hannah Riordan and Emily Bos finished second in 3:11.70. California's Hannah Wilson, Sara Isakovic, Erica Dagg and Liv Jensen finished third in 3:12.20.
Arizona (3:12.51), Stanford (3:12.54), Texas (3:13.77), Tennessee (3:15.83) and Wisconsin (3:15.95) also competed in the final swim of the meet.
Katinka Hosszu closed out an amazing meet. After winning her third individual title earlier in the 200 fly, Hosszu returned to provide a monster anchor leg (48.52) to give USC's Presley Bard, Christel Simms, Kasey Carlson and Hosszu the B final victory as the Trojans clocked a 3:15.60. Virginia (3:15.74), Florida (3:16.54), Maryland (3:17.10), Indiana (3:17.38), Ohio State (3:17.50) and Purdue (3:19.47) also scored in the consolation heat. Texas A&M drew a disqualification.
California concluded the meet with a victorious 424 points. Georgia wound up taking second with 394.5 points, while Southern California completed the season with a third-place finish with 351 points. Stanford (272) and Arizona (266) finished fourth and fifth. Texas (232), Florida (226), Auburn (202), Minnesota (192) and Texas A&M (182) rounded out the top 10, while Wisconsin (160), Tennessee (148), Virginia (105), LSU (89) and Indiana (86.5) made up the top 15.
CSCAA Awards
Diver of the Championships: Kelci Bryant, Minnesota
Diving Coach of the Championships: Wenbo Chen, Minnesota
Swimmer of the Championships: Katinka Hosszu, USC
Swimming Coach of the Championships: Teri McKeever, California
"I'm really proud of all the women," McKeever said of her second career title. "We talked about everybody having a role and contributing their piece. I felt we maximized all of our opportunities. It was a really good, solid team effort. We've got a talented group. We have nine freshmen at home who have challenged all of us. It's been great – great leadership, especially from Amanda (Sims) and Hannah (Wilson). It's a total team effort, which is wonderful."
Swimming World's NCAA Division I Women's Championships Notes Package Sponsored by NISCA
