NCAA Division I Women's Championships: Florida Wins Team Title; Stanford Claims

WEST LAFAYETTE, Indiana, March 20. WHILE Stanford claimed the final event title, the Florida Gators had the ultimate victory for the NCAA team title thanks to an unbelievable comeback triumph after an amazing morning of qualifying.

Stanford's Kate Dwelley, Sam Woodward, Betsy Webb and Julia Smit did what they had to do to try to give Stanford the overall title by winning with a pool record 3:12.32. That performance beat the 3:13.56 set by Georgia back in 2005.

Florida, however, kept it close enough to ensure the team title with a third-place effort of 3:13.43 by Elizabeth Kemp, Shara Stafford, Gemma Spofforth and Jamie Bohunicky. California split the difference as Hannah Wilson, Sara Isakovic, Erica Dagg and Liv Jensen wound up second in 3:12.67.

The event win is Stanford's eighth in the history of the 400 free relay, with previous wins in 1982, 1987, 1992 and 1994-97.

Florida, meanwhile, claimed its second team national title with 382 points, and its first since 1982 when Florida beat Stanford, 505-383. Stanford finished second overall with 379.5 points, just 2.5 points behind. While close, it's not the smallest margin of victory ever as Georgia owns that NCAA record with a 1.5-point victory over Stanford, 389 to 387.5, in 2001. The triumph is Gregg Troy's initial team title as well.

Florida completed the remarkable final day surge as it qualified seven swimmers and divers into the championship final of their respective events, and put its relay into the final heat as well.