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UA women's swimming and diving capture 2nd place at NCAA

The Arizona women's swimming and diving team finished second in the nation this season, coming in only a few points behind champion Georgia, which was suppose to run away with the title.

"I am so proud of the success the girls had at NCAA's," UA head coach Frank Busch said. "Their showing showed everyone what Arizona swimming is all about."

The women also won the Pacific 10 Conference title for the first time in school history. It also was the first time that a team other then Stanford won the conference.

"It was great to win the conference," Busch said. "It was nice to do something that was a surprise to everyone."

Besides the swim team, the women's divers played an intricate role this season.

"We are getting better every year, and it is finally beginning to show," diving coach Michele Mitchell-Rocha said. "We had two All-American divers in (Lindsay) Berryman and (Adrian) David, who both finished in the top eight. This is by far the best team I have coached at the UA."

As a reward for the season, the Pac-10 honored Busch with the Coach of the Year award. Also, freshman Beth Botsford was named the Pac-10 Newcomer of the Year after her stellar performance this season, winning the NCAA and Pac-10 title in the 200-meter backstroke.

Arizona, which boasts a slew of young talent, will have to contend with the departure of several key swimmers. The Wildcats lose Jill Berg, Andrea Glass, Karen Hansen, Trina Jackson, Rachel Joseph, Denali Knapp and Erika Zender.

The loss of Knapp and Jackson will especially hurt, as the two were big contributors to the team.

Luckily for the Wildcats, they have a great freshmen class with Beard and Botsford, who are both Olympic gold medalists. Also, the women's diving team could be even better next season.

"Next year we are going to have more talent diving then this school has ever had before," Mitchell-Rocha said.

Brian Penso can be reached at sports@wildcat.arizona.edu.