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Day 3 - NCAA Division I Women's Swimming & Diving Championships

Mar 22, 1997

INDIANAPOLIS - The final evening got off to quite a start with Arizona teammates Trina Jackson and Laurie Kline finishing one, two in 15:59.82 and 16:03.78 in the 1650 freestyle. Julie Varozza of Georgia finished third in 16:13.08.

The women's 200 backstroke was a remarkable race with Lia Oberstar of Southern Methodist and Lindsay Benko of Southern Cal neck and neck throughout the race to the point of having identical split times for the second (28.77) and third (29.22) splits. In the end Benko finished first in 1:54.42 while Oberstar finished a close second in 1:54.52. Marylyn Chiang of California was third in 1:56.30.

In the 100 freestyle Martina Moravcova picked up her third individual gold of the meet in a time of 48.18. Her performance also secured her the individual title. Shannon Shakespeare of Michigan was second in 48.55 while Catherine Fox of Stanford was third in 48.78.

In the 200 Breaststroke Kristine Quance picked up her second gold medal of the meet and helped lockup the team title for Southern Cal. Julia Russell of Nebraska was second in 2:10.32 while Kristy Kowal of Georgia was third in 2:11.08.

Lia Oberstar, having been narrowly beaten earlier in the evening in the 200 backstroke was not to be beaten in the 200 Butterfly. She won the race in 1:56.76 with Karen Campbell of Southern Cal second in 1:56.98. Karen's teammate Jean Ellis Todisco was third in 1:58.47.

Stanford won the final event of the meet, the 400 Freestyle relay. The winning time was 3:16.72 with Michigan in second with 3:17.19. Third place was initially awarded to Southern Methodist until they were disqualified immediately following the race. So third place was then award to the Arizona team who finished with a time of 3:19.42.

The Southern Cal ladies won the meet team title with total of 406 points without having won any of the relays. Coach Mark Schubert later express his surprise at this, "If you would have told me that we could win it without winning a relay, I would have said 'No way.' It's a testament to the depth of the meet and all of the great teams that are competiting." Stanford finished second with 395 points while Southern Methodist was third with 353.5 points.

Martina Moravcova of Southern Methodist was the winner of the individual point score title with a total of 60 points. Southern Cal teammates Kristine Quance and Lindsay Benko tied for second place with 57 points.