March 17, 2012
AUBURN, Ala.-- Sam Woodward and Betsy Webb closed out their careers as NCAA champions in the 400 free relay, while sophomore Maya DiRado was an NCAA runner-up in the 200 back as Stanford finished fourth at the NCAA Championships with 318 points.
In a meet that saw four Pac-12 teams finish in the top-five, Cal won its second-straight title with 412.5 points, followed by Georgia (366), USC (325.5), Stanford (318) and Arizona (299). Stanford set five school-records over the three days and book ended the championships with an opening night win in the 200 free relay, before closing out the meet with a win in the 400 free relay.
The same quartet-- Woodward, Webb, Andi Murez and Maddy Schaefer who set the school-record in the 200 free relay, did it again two days later with a time of 3:10.77 in the longer set, breaking an American record by Georgia last year (3:11.03). Woodward blasted out to a seven-tenth of a second lead, which was extended by Schaefer to nearly a second at the halfway point. Murez extended it to a second and a half before Webb touched the wall at 3:10.77 ahead of Auburn's Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace and the Tigers' time of 3:11.49.
In the 200 back, Florida's Elizabeth Beisel took the early lead by two-tenths of a second and slowly extended it to finish with a time of 1:50.58, as DiRado held off a late charging Dominique Bouch from Missouri to finish with a career-best time of 1:51.42. Bouch was third at 1:51.68. DiRado's time is 12th-best in NCAA history.
In a prelude to the final event, Stanford placed four swimmers in the top-10 of the 100 free with Murez finishing seventh (47.79) followed by Schaefer (47.96) in the A Finals, after Webb (47.99) beat teammate Woodward (48.08) for the consolation final title.
Woodward finished as a 22-time All-American, while Webb was a 21-time All-American. Both were a part of seven top-16 finishes in 2012. DiRado enters her junior season as a nine-time All-American, followed by senior-to-be and eight-time All-American, Murez and six-time All-American Felicia Lee.
NOTES: DiRado was an NCAA runner-up in the 200 IM as a freshman and has finished second or third in four of six individual events-- the 200 IM (2011, 2012), 400 IM (2011) and 200 back (2012). She also placed fifth in the 2011 200 back and fourth in the 2012 400 IM... the previous school-record in the 400 free relay was set in 2009 at 3:11.14, with Woodward as the only hold over.... Andie Taylor missed out on All-America honors in the 1650 free by one spot, swimming 16:18.57, four seconds out of the top-16.
Full Results: http://results.teamunify.com/nsss/results/NCAA/2012Women/
Saturday Finishes for the Cardinal (SR-school-record by Stanford, AGR-age group record)
1650 Free: Winner-- Stephanie Peaco, North Carolina (15:38.79), 17. Taylor, Stanford (16:18.57)
200 Back: Winner—Elizabeth Beisel, Florida (1:50.58, 1:51.44-prelims), 2. DiRado, Stanford (1:51.42, 1:53.80-prelims), 23. Lee (1:55.56-prelims)
(AGR) 100 Free: Winner—Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace, Auburn (46.88, 47.62-prelims), 7. Murez, Stanford (47.79, 47.82-prelims), 8. Schaefer (47.96, 48.29-prelims), 9. Webb (47.99, 48.36-prelims), 10. Woodward, Stanford (48.08, 48.56-prelims)
200 Breast: Winner-- Caitlin Leverenz, Cal, (2:04.76, 2:06.76-prelims) 30. Olsen, Stanford (2:12.14-prelims)
200 Fly: Winner-- Katinka Hosszu, USC (1:51.32, 1:52.84-prelims) no Stanford swimmers
Platform: Winner-- Chen Ni, IUPU (343.05), no Stanford divers
(SR, AR) *400 Free Relay: Winner-- Stanford (3:10.77, 3:13.46-prelims), Woodward, Schaefer, Murez, Webb
Friday Finishes for the Cardinal
(SR) 200 Medley Relay: Winner-- Cal (1:34.24, 1:35.16-prelims), 6. Stanford (1:36.82, 1:37.14-prelims), Lee, Olsen, Woodward, Webb
(AGR) 400 IM: Winner-- Katinka Hosszu, USC (3:56.54, 4:04.63-prelims), 4. DiRado, Stanford (3:59.88, 4:05.79-prelims), 19. Taylor (4:10.58-prelims)
100 Fly: Winner-- Sara Isakovic, Cal (51.49, 52.13-prelims), 10. Woodward, Stanford, (52.07, 52.32-prelims), 12. Lee (52.37, 52.54-prelims)
200 Free: Winner-- Megan Romano, Georgia (1:41.21, 1:43.41-prelims), 8. Murez, Stanford (1:44.67, 1:43.52-prelims)
100 Breast: Winner-- Breeja Larson, Texas A&M (57.71, 58.54-prelims) no Stanford swimmers
(SR) 100 Back: Winner-- Cindy Tran, Cal (50.31, 50.83-prelims), 5. Webb, Stanford (51.69, 51.97-prelims), 15. Lee (52.99, 52.42-prelims), 40. Schaefer (53.86-prelims)
3-Meter: Winner-- 31. Phipps, Stanford (277.65-prelims)
800 Free Relay: Winner-- Georgia (6:55.96, 6:57.09-prelims), 7. Stanford (7:01.27, 6:58.82-prelims), DiRado, Taylor, Giberson, Murez
Thursday Finishes for the Cardinal
(SR) *200 Free Relay: Winner-- Stanford (1:26.85, 1:27.36-prelims), Woodward, Schaefer, Murez, Webb
500 Free: Winner-- Shannon Vreeland, Georgia, (4:34.49, 4:39.55), 49. Taylor, Stanford, (4:40.64-prelims)
200 IM: Winner-- Caitlin Leverenz, Cal (1:51.77, 1:53.31-prelims), 3. DiRado, Stanford, (1:53.89, 1:55.23-prelims), 48. Taylor, Stanford (4:48.69-prelims)
(SR) 50 Free: Winner-- Liv Jensen, Cal (21.48, 21.71-prelims), 4. Webb, Stanford, (21.78, 21.81-prelims), 6. Woodward (21.99, 22.00-prelims), 12. Schaefer, Stanford (22.26, 22.18-prelims), 26. Murez (22.53-prelims)
1-Meter: Winner-- Victoria Ishimatsu, USC (354.10, 331.55-prelims), 8. Phipps, Stanford, (312.05, 308.03-prelims)
400 Medley Relay: Winner-- California, (3:28.10, 3:28.14), 9. Stanford (3:30.86, 3:33.30-prelims), Lee, Olsen, Woodward, Webb
All-American Updates (career top-16 finishes first, followed by 2012 results):
22-Woodward (100 free-10th, 50 free-6th, 100 fy-10th, 200 free relay-1st, 400 medley relay-9th, 200 medley relay-6th, 400 free relay-1st)
21-Webb (100 free-9th, 50 free-4th, 100 back-5th, 200 free relay-1st, 400 medley relay-9th, 200 medley relay-6th, 400 Free Relay-1st)
9-DiRado (200 back-2nd, 400 IM-4th, 200 IM-3rd 800 Free Relay-7th)
8-Murez (100 free-7th, 200 Free-8th, 200 free relay-1st, 800 Free Relay-7th, 400 Free Relay-1st)
6-Lee (100 fly-12th, 100 back-15th, 200 medley relay-6th, 400 medley relay-9th)
4-Schaefer (100 free-8th, 50 free-12th, 200 free relay-1st, 400 Free Relay-1st)
2-Olsen (400 medley relay-9th, 200 medley relay-6th)
2-Phipps (1-Meter-8th)
2-Taylor ( 800 Free Relay-7th)
1-Giberson ( 800 Free Relay-7th)