March 10, 2007
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Minneapolis, Minn. - Elaine Breeden won her first NCAA title on Saturday and Stanford finished fourth after the conclusion of action at the 2007 NCAA Swimming Diving Championships on Saturday. Breeden captured the 200 fly in a time of 1:53.02 to break former Stanford swimmer Shelly Ripple's NCAA Meet mark and just miss her own school record (1:52.29) that she set at the 2007 Pac-10 Championships by three-hundredths of a second.
"This was one of the fastest heats ever at the NCAA's and to be able to win with people like Whitney Myers and Dana Vollmer also in the pool is a great honor," said Breeden about the second and third-place finishers. "It was hugely exciting. I've never won at a meet where there was so much support from my team, so many fans and all the Stanford people cheering for me. I was never more proud to represent a team."
"Her opponents were big time swimmers that were veterans and swimming well," added Stanford head coach Lea Maurer. "It was a tough race, and she went out after it. I was hoping she would stay composed and she did. She fought hard and was impressive with her savvy, poise and toughness."
Auburn won the meet for the second straight year with 535 points, followed by Arizona (477), California (372.5), Stanford (333), Georgia (290), Texas (220), Florida (203), Texas A&M (198), Michigan (191) and Tennessee (127) to round out the Top 10.
"We were really excited with both our individual performances and our effort as a team," offered Maurer. "We fought hard at this meet to stay in it just like we did all year. Everyone on the pool deck seemed to comment on how resilient we were. The fourth place finish is our best in a while, and our goal is to keep moving up. We know we just need a few more people that are going to come to this meet next year and score points. Hopefully, everyone leaves this meet feeling they want to swim at night next year."
The NCAA also announced Saturday that Cassidy Krug was named the NCAA Diver of the Year, while Dr. Rick Schavone earned Diving Coach of the Year honors. Krug swept the 1-meter and 3-meter NCAA titles after doing the same earlier in the postseason at the NCAA Zone E Meet and Pac-10 Championships.
Stanford also had a second place performance Saturday from Julia Smit in the 200 back and a third place effort by Caroline Bruce in the 100 breast. Smit checked in with a personal-best time of 1:53.39 that was just behind winner Gemma Spofforth of Florida's 1:52.96 pool record and only .27 seconds from equaling Misty Hyman's school record of 1:53.12. Bruce's third place mark of 2:11.06 trailed winner Rebecca Soni of USC (2:08.23, pool record) and second place Yi Ting Siow of Wisconsin (2:10.42).
Brooke Bishop was 10th in the free, taking second in the consolation finals of the event in a time of 48.87.
"This was a huge night for the big four," commented Maurer about the performances of Bishop, Breeden, Bruce and Smit. "They worked really hard together all year and had good friendships and lots of energy."
Shana Karp and Laura Wadden both earned All-American honors for the first time as Karp was 14th in the prelims of the platform diving with 258.50 points, while Wadden took 15th overall in the 200 fly with a time of 1:58.77 in the consolation finals.
Stanford also won its last event of the meet in the consolation finals of the 400 free relay when a team of Smit (49.59), Breeden (48.94), Madeline Rovira (49.84) and Bishop (48.07) covered the race in a time of 3:16.44 that was faster than four of the eight teams in the championship finals.
Stanford had three swimmers in the heats of the 1650 free that were contested as timed finals. DesireƩ Stahley (18th, 16:23.92) was the top Cardinal finisher, while Morgan Hentzen (34th, 16:34.64), Elizabeth Durot (36th, 16:36.54) and Lauren Costella (40th, 16:46.49) also competed.
Other swimmers participating for the Cardinal in Saturday's prelim session included Andrea Axtell (36th, 1:59.49) in the 200 back; Rovira (33rd, 49.91), Nilasha Ghosh (62nd, 50.89) and Fiona O'Donnell-McCarthy (64th, 51.00) in the 100 free; and Whitney Spence (41st, 2:02.72) in the 200 fly.
Auburn's Haley Peirsol (1650 free, 15:45.92, pool record), Georgia's Kara Lynn Joyce (100 free, 47.24) and Texas' Jessica Livingston (platform diving, 357.85 points) joined Breeden, Spofforth and Soni as individual winner on Saturday.
California saved one of the best moments of the meet for the final event by breaking the NCAA record in the 400 free relay with a time of 3:12.13 that was recorded by the foursome of Emily Silver (48.24), Erin Reilly (48.72), Jessica Hardy (48.05) and Dana Vollmer (47.12).
ESPN2 will air a 90-minute NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving show on a tape-delayed basis on Wednesday, March 14 (9:30 am, PT).