UA's Neethling swims to win at NCAA Championship meet

Lost amid the weekend's big event, the Final Four, another set of NCAA Championships were taking place in Minneapolis.

And while Arizona did not play for the title there, one member of the Wildcats' men's swimming team did claim individual honors.

Arizona freshman Ryk Neethling became the NCAA champion in the mile, otherwise known as the 1,650-yard freestyle, with his time of 14 minutes, 43.44 seconds, the third fastest in UA history.

"I really wasn't satisfied with my race," Neethling said. "The guy next to me from Kansas went out really fast, and I just tried to stay with him. I kind of died at the end. I've been traveling a lot. I went home and to the Pac-10's (championships)."

Neethling finished ninth overall in individual scoring with 42 points.

He became the third UA athlete ever win the 1,650. Mariusz Podkoscielny won in 1989 (14:38.09) and Chad Carvin did the same in 1994 (14:34.91).

The UA team finished with 84 points, good enough for 16th place out of the 56 teams that competed.

Auburn won the meet with a score of 496.5, followed by Pacific 10 Conference champion Stanford at 340 and Georgia was third (297).

UA freshman diver Jimmy Sjodin wound up with 515.50 points on the 3-meter springboard, the second best total in UA history. He had set the all-time mark earlier this season at the Pac-10 Championships (570.95).

Sjodin finished ninth with 436.25 points on the 10-meter platform on Saturday. Both of Sjodin's finishes were the best ever for an Arizona athlete at the NCAA Championships.

Arizona's 400 freestyle relay team of Chris Counts, Abe Wick, Chris Brophy and Matt Allen finished eighth in the consolation final with a time of 2:59.94.

Other finishers for Arizona on Saturday included Wick coming in 25th in the 100 freestyle (44.39), Glenn Flint coming in seventh in the 200 breaststroke (2:00.65), Counts finishing 18th in the 200 butterfly (1:48.06) and Allen winding up 30th in the 200 backstroke (1:50.21).

Arizona swimmers placing in Friday's competition included Counts coming in 23rd in the preliminary round of the 200 freestyle (1:37.72), Brophy finishing 22nd in the 100 butterfly (48.32), Rob Henikman grabbing 33rd in the 100 breaststroke (56.64) and Allen with a 21st place finish in the 100 backstroke (49.16).

The 200 medley relay team of Allen, Brophy, Jason Orozco and Wick finished third in the consolation final with a time of 1:29.41.

The team finish is the lowest since 1982, when the Wildcats came in 19th, and the third lowest of all time. Arizona's best finish, fourth place, came in 1993.