WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – For the second week in a row, the University of Florida is celebrating another NCAA team championship.
After the men’s track and field team captured the NCAA Indoor Championship last Saturday, the Florida women’s swimming and diving team brought home the NCAA National Championship, using two victories in the 100 backstroke and 200 freestyle relay and a wealth of depth to earn the title by 2.5 points over Stanford as the three-day meet came to an end Saturday at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center.
Florida finished with 382 points to beat Stanford, which had 379.5 points. The championship also brought another honor—head coach Gregg Troy was named the 2010 NCAA Women’s Coach of the Year.
Heading into the final two events of the evening, Florida stood in fourth place behind Stanford, Arizona and California. But Florida got a third-place showing from senior Kara Salamone and an eighth-place finish from junior Monica Dodson in the women’s platform diving event to leap ahead of Stanford, Arizona and California, which had no platform divers. The finishes put Florida in the lead with 350 points going into the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay. Seniors Liz Kemp and Gemma Spofforth, sophomore Shara Stafford and freshman Jamie Bohunicky set a school-record with their 3:13.43 third-place finish that provided the winning points.
Stanford (379.5), California (363), Arizona (359.5) and Georgia (342.5) finished behind Florida.
“This was really a team effort and there was no room for error,” Troy said. “When Gemma took second in the 200 backstroke, we had other performances that made up for it, like Teresa Crippen’s third-place back finish and then fifth in the 200 butterfly. We had tremendous efforts all around and our divers were outstanding under Donnie (Craine). Our coaching staff has done a tremendous job. Not only Martyn (Wilby), Donnie (Craine) and Leah (Stancil) here, but Pete (Knox) and Anthony (Nesty) who are with our men right now, all played a big part in what happened this week.”
Twelve Gators earned All-America status, shattering five Florida records and reeling in two national titles on the way to the team victory. The last time the Gator women’s team won the NCAA National Championship, it was also on March 18-20 but in Gainesville, and Florida beat Stanford by a wider margin, 505-383. Florida also won the AIAW swimming title in 1979.
“This was a Cinderella weekend for us. I just can’t say enough,” Troy added. “We kept focus on what we wanted to do. It feels great. In the final relay, we wanted to make sure we had solid starts and raced fast. We have been knocking on the door for a few years now and we’ve always had a big desire to excel.”
On the final night, Florida used seven championship final appearances to pull off the unexpected, including a two-three finish in the 200-yard backstroke from Spofforth and sophomore Teresa Crippen. Crippen also placed fifth in the 200-yard butterfly as the Gators’ top finisher behind sophomore Jemma Lowe, who took sixth. Sophomore Melani Costa-Schmid finished eighth in the mile to help the Gators with 12 points to kick off the evening.
“This day was an emotional rollercoaster,” Spofforth said. “We didn’t really, honestly, think we were going to win and to come out with such a victory is a great feeling. We have a lot of great people behind us. I was so disappointed with my backstroke finish because I swam her race (winner, Kateryna Fesenko, Indiana) and not my race. There were lots of tears, but I have put them all behind me because to win this title with all of my teammates is much more amazing and important to me than an individual title.”
Spofforth, who would have become the first four-time 200 backstroke NCAA champion if she won, completed her career with seven national titles, including the 100 backstroke Friday and as a member of the 200-yard freestyle relay Thursday.
“We really didn’t know we had won, even after the relay,” Crippen said. “I was in the stands. We all quickly looked to coach Troy, who did the math on the spot. When he gave us the final nod that we’d won, we started screaming. When Shara (Stafford) saw us from the pool deck, she started jumping so high and screaming, which let the relay know that we had done it. We are super excited.”
ESPN2 will air the 2010 Women’s NCAA Championships on April 6 at 1:30 p.m.