COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Lacey Nymeyer won the 100 freestyle
Saturday to help Arizona earn its first national title at the NCAA
Women's Division I Swimming and Diving Championships.
The Wildcats, who finished second last season, in 1998 and
2000, used five relay titles and two individual champions over the
three-day event at Ohio State's McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion to amass
484 points for the win.
Two-time defending champion Auburn was second with 348. The
Tigers won five of the previous six championships and also were
second in 2005. Stanford was third with 343 followed by Texas A&M
(315) and California (291).
Arizona has finished in the top 10 for 18 straight years. The
Wildcats won the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, in 3
minutes, 11.34 seconds for an NCAA and American record. Nymeyer,
runner-up last year, swam the 100 in 47.50 seconds to earn her
second NCAA title after winning the 200 free in 2007.
Gemma Spofforth, a Florida sophomore who won the 100 backstroke
Friday, took the 200 backstroke for the second year in a row with a
time of 1:50.70 that was nearly 2½ seconds ahead of the field.
Another repeat winner was Southern California junior Rebecca Soni
in the 200 breaststroke. Her time of 2:06.32 was a championship
meet record but off her collegiate mark of 2:06.11 set on March 1.
Another meet record fell when Oregon State junior Saori
Haruguchi beat defending champion Elaine Breeden of Stanford to win
the 200 butterfly in 1:52.39.
Also, Michigan junior Emily Brunemann won the 1,650-yard
freestyle in 15:53.69 after finishing fourth in 2007 and University
of Miami sophomore Brittany Viola was first in platform diving
after finishing sixth last year.