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AUBURN, Alabama, March 17. THE Stanford Cardinal claimed the American record in the 400 freestyle relay to close out the 2012 NCAA Division I Women's Championships. Meanwhile, California completed a successful title defense, now winning three out of the last four team titles for Teri McKeever.
Samantha Woodward (48.25), Madeline Schaefer (47.61), Andrea Murez (47.65) and Elizabeth Webb (47.26) set the American record with a time of 3:10.77. That swim eclipsed the American record of 3:11.03 set by Georgia back in 2009. California's NCAA and U.S. Open record of 3:09.88 from 2009 remained the fastest time ever.
Auburn's Hannah Riordan, Olivia Scott, Emily Bos and Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace finished second in 3:11.49, while Georgia's Madeline Locus, Shannon Vreeland, Melanie Margalis and Megan Romano placed third in 3:11.56. Romano had another epic anchor leg with a 46.11 after posting what is believed to be the fastest freestyle relay leg with a 46.07 on the 400 medley relay.
Arizona (3:11.57), California (3:12.53), Texas (3:14.41), Tennessee (3:14.51) and Southern California (3:21.47) also swam in the championship finale.
Wisconsin's Rebecca Thompson, Rebecka Palm, Ivy Martin and Aja Van Hout topped the consolation heat with a 3:15.41, while Minnesota (3:15.88), SMU (3:15.96), Missouri (3:16.36), Florida (3:16.57), Penn State (3:16.98) and Virginia (3:18.11) placed second through seventh in the B final. Texas A&M drew a disqualification.
California won the team title with 412.5 points, while Georgia took second with 366 points. Southern California (325.5), Stanford (318) and Arizona (299) finished third, fourth and fifth. Texas A&M (262) placed sixth, while Auburn and Tennessee tied for seventh with matching 249s. Texas (201) and Florida (160) rounded out the top 10. Minnesota (131), Arizona State (123), Indiana (115), Missouri (98) and Wisconsin (91) placed 11th through 15th.
McKeever moved into fourth in the women's coaching ranks with her third title. She is now tied with Mark Schubert. Richard Quick owns the record with 12 women's titles, while David Marsh owns five. Jack Bauerle has won four women's title s in his career.
CSCAA Annual Awards
Diver of the Meet: Jaele Patrick, Texas A&M
Diving Coach of the Year: Jay Larew, Texas A&M
Swimmer of the Meet: Caitlin Leverenz, California
Coach of the Year: Teri McKeever, California
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