Nov. 10, 2006
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Knoxville, Tenn.- No. 3 Stanford jumped out to a dominating lead over both No. 4 Auburn and No. 15 Tennessee after the first of two days of action between the schools at the Student Aquatic Center on Friday. The Cardinal has a 102-65 advantage over the defending champion Tigers and a 116-51 margin against the Lady Vols. Julia Smit continued her outstanding freshman season by recording a pair of individual victories to lead a Cardinal squad that won seven of the day's nine events.
Smit recorded NCAA `A' times in 400 IM (4:10.09) and 200 back (1:56.00) triumphs with just one event sandwiched between the two performances that made her Stanford's fourth and fifth all-time performer in the respective events. Smit recorded NCAA `A' qualifying times in both of her wins and later recorded an NCAA `B' mark when she led off Stanford's winning 400 medley relay (3:41.72, NCAA `B') with a 100 back split of 54.90.
"Julia was definitely the talk of the pool deck," said Stanford head coach Lea Maurer. "People know she is making a mark on Stanford and starting to do so on a national level as well. She is a composed and focused swimmer and wants to be a part of rebuilding Stanford's tradition and getting back to where we want to be on the national scene."
"This was a breakthrough swim for our program," Maurer added. "It was a big deal, because this is a tough challenge to go on the road and face schools like Auburn and Tennessee. We had some great swims today, and we just kept coming the entire day. I'm hoping we can build off this moment tomorrow."
Smit had plenty of help from her teammates on Friday with Brooke Bishop's performance arguably the most notable. Bishop closed out the day's action with a victory in the 100 free (49.71, NCAA `B') when the event was swum for a second time following a timing malfunction during the normally scheduled race. Bishop's victory came on the heels of anchoring Stanford's 400 medley relay squad to a win just moments before when she teamed with Smit, Caroline Bruce and Elaine Breeden.
"Brooke's performance in the 100 free was a decisive way to end the first day of the meet and symbolized our tenacity today," emphasized Maurer.
Bruce and Breeden also did well on their own with respective victories in the 200 breast (2:12.16, NCAA `A') and 100 fly (54.02, NCAA `B'). Cassidy Krug rounded out Stanford's wins by taking the 1-meter diving competition (285.40 points).
Auburn's Adrienne Binder was the lone non-Stanford individual to capture an event, taking the 500 free in an NCAA `B' time of 4:46.41.
Tennessee's lone victory on the first day of action was a 200 free relay team of Michele King, Christine Magnuson, Katie Gehring and Megan Tomes that captured the opening event of the meet in an NCAA `B' mark of 1:32.74. The Lady Vols touched just ahead of a Stanford team of Madeline Rovira, Breeden, Fiona O'Donnell-McCarthy and Bishop that had an NCAA `B' time of 1:32.77.
Elizabeth Durot (4:51.56) and DesireƩ Stahley (4:53.78) both added NCAA `B' showings in the 500 free for the Cardinal, finishing fourth and fifth in the race. Breeden recorded an NCAA `B' mark with her fourth-place showing in the 100 free (50.94).
The meet will conclude Saturday with the final 10 events beginning at 10 am, ET. The 200 medley relay, 1000 free, 200 free, 100 back, 100 breast, 200 fly, 50 free, 1-meter diving, 200 IM and 400 free relay are scheduled to be contested.