An @N°Ae E St. Pat's
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An @n°aEe St. Pat's A stellar performance by Janet Evans wasn't enough for Stanford as Texas upset the defending champions at the women's NCAA meet. Story by Russ Ewald Photos by Tim Morse nothing would stand in Fetter's way, though. She opened up a huge lead with her long, smooth strokes. When she touched, the crowd let out a tre- mendous cheer as the board dis- played 21.92. Leigh Ann looked up at it and muttered, "Oh, my gosh." "I feel a lot of pressure taken off," she said later. "A lot of coaches came up to me and asked if I was going to do it." The star-laden Stanford team took its turn in the spotlight at the eve- ning finals. After Texas took the opening 200 free relay in 1:29.83, Evans showed that college life hasn't slowed her down a bit. The Olym- pic hero, who has grown to 5-6 and 112 pounds, smashed the oldest U.S. short course record by almost two seconds in the 500. Florida freshman Whitney Hedgepeth stayed within a body length of Evans for 300 yards before Evans pulled away AUSTIN, Texas--The ninth an- switched this year from the IMs to to an eight-yard victory in 4:34.39. nual NCAA Women's Swimming middle distances to replace departed The old American record was and Diving Championships March standout Stacy Cassiday, and Shaw, 4:36~25 established by Tracy Caul- 15-17 had it all. There were sensa- healthy after leg problems a year kins--who was at the meet as a tional individual performances with ago, lowered their bests more than commentator for ESPN--in 1979. Stanford freshman Janet Evans set- three seconds each to qualify second Tiffany Cohen held the previous ting American records in the 500 (4:42.24) and first (1:59.97), respec- NCAA mark of 4:37.90 set in 1985. and 1650 yard freestyles and an tively. Also, senior Andrea Hayes, "The way my training was going, NCAA mark in the 400 IM, along showing she was recovered from a I felt I had a shot at it," Evans said. with Texas junior Leigh Ann Fetter knee injury that plagued her during "When I did my old best (4:37.30 at breaking the 22-second barrier in the season, was right behind in the a 1988 high school meet), I had no the 50. And the closest team race in 500, and sophomore Dorsey Tierney one there with me. I was glad Whit- the history of the meet as defending improved more than a second in the ney was there. I wasn't concerned champion Stanford University and 200 IM to 2:00.75 for the third seed. because I felt strong at the end. The host Texas engaged in a classic bat- It was enough to bring tears to last 100 I put my head down and tle like two heavyweights exchang- Fetter's eyes as she got on the blocks worked hard because I didn't want ing blows toe to toe. for her heat in the 50. The lanky any doubt." Texas jumped out oh-so-quick on Texas star had a dream last fall that Another Cardinal freshman day one, the same as a year ago. In she became the first woman under phenom, Janel Jorgensen, followed the morning, the Longhorn 200 free 22. Now, though, she felt nervous with a victory in the 200 IM. After relay easily qualified first as ex- because of the pressure of duplicat- moving out to more than a body- pected. Then came a couple of im- ing her teammates' impressive per- length lead in the first half, the pressive drops in personal bests--the formances. Doing a best time for her former Wilton Y ace was challenged kind necessary in a heated team com- meant bettering the American record by Shaw, the American record petition-from sophomore Katy Ar- of 22.05 she set a year ago at these holder in the 200 breast, on that ris in the 500 and freshman Amy championships. stroke. But Jorgensen was too strong Shaw in the 200 IM. Arris, who It was evident from the start that on the closing freestyle and won by 26 Swimming World/May 1990 V'V ith its strength in the shorter kins as leadoff and, swimming sub- almost a body in 1:58.13. Only stroke events, Stanford took over merged for the first 18 yards and Caulkins with three 1:57s has gone the lead on the second day. The Car- then halfway through the second faster. dinal scored 43 points in the 100 fly lap, put Florida ahead by almost a The 50 made the day for Texas. and 401/2 in the 100 breast, along body length in 25.36. Stephanie Fetter didn't stay under long enough with 39 in the 400 IM. Zunich and Hedgepeth extended the off the turn and hit the wave, elimi- Evans and Jorgensen led the bar- advantage with the fastest breast nating any record possibility. Never- rage with their second victories and fly splits (27.72, 24.24), respec- theless, she led a Texas charge for 63 apiece. Both won convincingly. tively. Perkins touched five yards points with a 22.11 win as team- Evans recorded the second-fastest ahead despite a 21.97 anchor by mates Julie Cooper, Jeanne Doolan 400 IM in history with an NCAA Texas' Fetter, who passed Stanford's and Dana Dutcher went 3-5-6. record of 4:0Z59, bettering the old Jamie Rugless for second. The win- Stanford fought back by surpris- mark of 4:07.75 by Caulkins in 1984. ning time of 1:40.05 bettered the old ing two-time defending titlist Florida She's still a long way from the Amer- American record of 1:40.22 by Stan- in the 400 medley relay. Following a ican standard, though, a 1981 time ford's 1986 team. It fell short of the 55.30 by Gator freshman backstroker of 4:04.63 set by Caulkins in Cam- U.S. open mark of 1:39.88 by the Lea Loveless for the lead, Stanford bridge, In the 100 fly, Jorgensen 1987 Texas quartet. (Breaststroker breaststroker Lori Heisick put her charged well out in front with a Tracey McFarlane of the Longhorn team in front with a 1:00.74 and 25.01 opening 50 and won by a sec- relay was not yet an American citi- Suzy Buckovich (53.53) and Jorgen- ond in 53.02. zen.) sen (48.54) extended the margin for Florida wasn't in the running for Florida later won three successive a 3:38.84 win. The first day totals: the title after only qualifying 10 individual races. Hedgepeth led the Texas, 203; Stanford, 177. swimmers for the meet in Coach entire way in taking the 200 free Randy Reese's final year--he's re- (1:45.21, fourth-fastest ever~by two signing to concentrate on coaching yards over Texas' Arris. In the 100 Opposite" Texas won for the the men's team there. But the Gators, breast, defending champion Zunich sixth time Inthe last seven years. wearing T-shirts with "The Perfect qualified only second behind Hei- Above left: Fetter used visualiza- 10" written on the back, made the sick--who had gone 1:01.38 un- tion to help her break the 22- most of their small squad with four shaved during the season--and second barrier. Above right" victories the second day including trailed the Stanford freshman going Florida's 200 medley relay of an American record in the 200 into the final turn. But a great under- Perkins (l-r), Zunich, Hedgepeth medley relay. water pull off the turn got Zunich in and Linehan got a U.S. record. The Gators had won the shorter front. She nipped Heisick by a yard Swimming World/May 1990 27 ll.'i, ,j.~. -q,]t 4- ~.~,-,'r ......... -. iiP= I L. '." ,.-M ." J..=! .= =.= EOEt4T• . : b.~,~-',.' HEAT ,.... m-, = -- = " - =-J ="H',~ i,~=" ": "'4. L'~y.-' L L H H L i ~,.= "n?/8-=-=, CH [! ,'-- F P ,_-_-. :~ i:-'8 2 4 ! ]:~9.: J 6 ] f = i"-' "~" i: '=.t" ",,3= 5Ktt.= i : 15, ~4Y It's called the OSM-6. And Kiefer has it for you. This rather special attach6- Olympic Games, World case contains a computer, Championships, etc. Re- the OSM-6, which auto- quest the special documen- matically times swimming tation on the "OSM-6". events at all levels. Omega Electronics, a company known throughout the world for its quality pro- r • ducts and its flawless time- keeping of the most presti- gious sports events: the OMEGA /E ILII~<~II~OIKNIII<$~ 1750 Harding Road, No~hfield, lL 60093 Kiefer Sports Timing Systems 708-501-4848 800-322-5448 FAX: 708-501-4565 yard margin going into the anchor leg. Second-place Stanford used Evans, who rarely swims a 200, against the Gators' Nancy Marley, the independent high school record holder at 1:46.63. Through the open- ing four laps, the Cardinal chances looked futile as Evans failed to close the gap. Then, Marley began strug- gling. The crowd sensed Evans might just catch the Florida sophomore, and the buzzing from the stands picked up. On the last lap, Evans churned past her foe to win by two yards. She split 1:45.32, second- fastest of the evening. Stanford's time was 7:07.58. "I knew Nancy was a sprinter and maybe I could catch her at the end," said Evans.