Fri, May 09, 2008

UA Sports

ncaa women's swimming championships

Arizona sets two American records on first day, leads team standings by 19 points

arizona daily star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 03.21.2008
The Arizona women's swim team set two American records and won an individual title at the NCAA Championships in Columbus, Ohio, on Thursday.
The Arizona Wildcats broke their own American and NCAA and championship meet record in the 200-yard freestyle relay and set another record in the 400 medley relay.
Junior Lara Jackson won an individual national championship in the 50 free in 21.69 seconds.
The UA leads the team standings after the opening day at the McCorkle Aquatic Center on the Ohio State campus.
The Wildcats' first-day total of 151 points was followed by Auburn's 132 and Cal's 89 after the first six events.
"It was a good night for the team," head coach Frank Busch said in a news release. "Setting NCAA and American records in a couple of events got us off to a good start.
"We feel like we've got a chance and we need to keep doing what we're doing. Everyone starts fresh (today) and we've got to keep swimming faster than the competition."
The foursome of Jackson, Lacey Nymeyer, Anna Turner and Taylor Baughman started the first-day finals off on a record-setting note, smashing UA's year-old mark in the 200 free relay.
The Wildcats swam the event in 1:26.90, eclipsing the record of 1:27.23 set last year by UA's Jackson, Nymeyer, Kelly and Turner. The win handed the Wildcats the early lead with 40 points.
Sophomore Leone Vorster followed with a third-place finish (11th overall) in the consolation finals of the 500 free to add six more points.
Junior Hailey DeGolia chipped in with a sixth-place finish in the 200 individual medley, touching in a time of 1:57.03 for 13 more points to raise the team total to 59 after three events.
Jackson, a former walk-on from El Paso, took home UA's first individual national championship of the season when she touched first in the 50 free. Her time set a pool record, was the third-fastest in Arizona history and added another 20 points.
The Wildcats also scored with sixth-, eighth- and 12th-place finishes in the 50 free from Nymeyer, Turner and Baughman, respectively.
The Wildcats wrapped up the night the way they opened it, setting four records in the 400 medley relay. The team of DeGolia, Chandler, sophomore Ana Agy and Nymeyer set new American, U.S. Open and NCAA championship meet standards with a time of 3:29.89, beating the previous record held by Cal's 2007 time of 3:30.18.
Arizona returns to preliminary action today and Saturday beginning at at 8 a.m. Tucson time. Finals start at 4 p.m. both days.
● Information complied from news releases.