Staff Reports
Arizona Daily Wildcat
March 23, 1998

Women's swimming places second

UA's women's swimming and diving team recorded its best-ever finish at the NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships in Minneapolis Saturday when it placed second behind Stanford.

The finish beat last season's record fourth place mark. The Cardinal cruised to victory with 422 points, followed by UA (378), Georgia (368), Southern Methodist (339) and Southern Cal (277).

UA's finish came down to the 400-meter freestyle relay, the championship's final event. UA trailed Georgia by 12 points entering the race.

Seniors Shannon Hosack and Liesl Kolbisen, freshman Lindsey Farella and sophomore Denali Knapp won the event, setting a UA record with a 3:19.27 time. They edged Stanford by 1.5 seconds.

That win, combined with the 200 and 800 free relay wins earlier in the weekend, makes UA only the second team ever to win all three freestyle relays at the NCAA Championships. Stanford did it in 1982.

"We just wanted to go out with smiles on our faces," Farella said.

Thursday, Hosack, Kolbisen, Knapp and Farella also won the 200 free with a new UA and pool record time of 1:29.19.

Friday, the Wildcat team of Jackson, Farella and seniors Laurie Kline and Maureen Philipps clinched the 800 free relay title with a time of 7:10.79. Phillips was a late replacement for senior Liesl Kolbisen.

"I wasn't even supposed to be in this event," Phillips said. "Coach (Frank Busch) gave me a chance. Now I am totally overwhelmed with what happened."

Sophomore Trina Jackson won her second 1,650 free title Saturday, breaking her own record and finishing with the fourth-best time over that distance (14:49.25).

"I am so very proud of these women," Busch said. "They were on a mission tonight, and they got there. They have quite a bit to be proud of going back to Tucson."