Benko Third in 200 Back, Campbell Third in 200 Fly
June 21, 1999 | Women's Swimming & Diving
March 20, 1999
ATHENS, Ga. - Senior All-Americans Lindsay Benko and Karen Campbell completed their USC careers in fine fashion, each posting third-place swims in their respective final races, leading the Women of Troy to a sixth-place finish overall on the final day of the 1999 NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships at Georgia's Gabrielsen Natatorium on Saturday (March 20).
USC, fifth last year, finished the three-day competition with 245 points. Georgia won its first NCAA title in the sport with 504.5 points. Stanford finished second with 441, followed by SMU (370.5), Arizona (332), California (315) and USC. Georgia is only the fifth university to win an NCAA team title in women's swimming and diving. The other four are USC, Stanford, Florida and Texas.
Benko, who already posted a win in the 500-yard freestyle and a third in the 200-yard free earlier in the meet, completed her NCAA individual career with a third-place showing in the 200-yard back in 1:55.71. In four years, Benko reached the NCAA championship finals in all 12 individual events in which she competed, posting five championships overall (three in the 500 free and two in the 200 back). Benko's five career NCAA wins at USC is second only to Kristine Quance's eight.
Senior All-American Karen Campbell, like Benko, swam in her third finals of the three-day competition, recording a 1:57.43 for third in the 200-yard butterfly. Campbell reached the NCAA finals of the 100 and 200 fly all three years she was at USC and also reached the finals of the 50 free this year.
"Lindsay Benko, Karen Campbell and Kristin MacGregor all did stand-up jobs for us and swam very consistently," USC Coach Mark Schubert said. "We had some disappointments, but our seniors went out in style. For the small team that we had here, they did a good job."
MacGregor, a freshman, took fourth in the consolation finals of the 200-yard breast (12th overall) in 2:13.51. MacGregor scored in all three events in which she competed (200 IM, 100 and 200 breast) at this year's championships.
Freshman Katie Meyer made her scoring debut in the 200 back, finishing sixth in the consolation finals (14th overall) in 1:59.88. Meyer, who swam a season's best in the 200 back in the prelims (1:59.25), also placed 31st in the 200 fly (2:02.79).
USC's 400-yard free relay, which narrowly missed qualifying for the finals, finished fourth in the consolation finals. Benko, Campbell, junior Paige Francis and senior Nora Zhong swam a 3:21.69, finishing 12th overall. Other individual finishes include Francis in the 200 back (2:00.70, 28th), sophomore Corrie Murphy in the 200 back (2:02.39, 36th) and Zhong in the 200 fly (2:01.99, 25th).
Overall for the meet, USC swimmers posted school records in four individual events (50 free, 500 free, 100 breast and 100 fly) and in two relays (200 free and 400 medley).
The NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships begin Thursday (March 25) in Indianapolis.
Finals results and USC finishers to follow.
FINAL TOP 10 STANDINGS
1. Georgia 504.5 2. Stanford 441 3. SMU 370.5 4. Arizona 332 5. California 315 6. USC 245 7. Michigan 163 8. Florida 147 9. Northwestern 145 10. Virginia 140
1650-YARD FREESTYLE
1. Julie Varozza (Georgia) 15:59.66 2. Rachel Komisarz (Kentucky) 16:04.42 3. Ellen Stonebraker (Wisconsin) 16:13.03 4. Trina Jackson (Arizona) 16:15.38 5. Megan Melgaard (Florida) 16:20.58 6. Dawn Heckman (Florida) 16:22.06 7. Sarah Nichols (Tennessee) 16:24.91 8. Ashley Whitney (Georgia) 16:25.31 DQ Amy Migawa (USC)
200-YARD BACKSTROKE
1. Keegan Walkley (Georgia) 1:53.63 2. Misty Hyman (Stanford) 1:54.10 3. Lindsay Benko (USC) 1:55.71 4. Amanda Adkins (Georgia) 1:56.13 5. Jennifer Hommert (Florida) 1:56.54 6. Rachel Joseph (Arizona) 1:57.07 7. Shandra Johnson (Nebraska) 1:58.53 8. Denali Knapp (Arizona) 2:00.33 14. Katie Meyer (USC) 1:59.88 28. Paige Francis (USC) 2:00.70 36. Corrie Murphy (USC) 2:02.39100-YARD FREESTYLE
1. Martina Moravcova (SMU) 48:05 2. Courtney Shealy (Georgia) 48.49 3. Rania Elwani (SMU) 48.58 4. Therese Alshammar (Nebraska) 48.76 5. Catherine Fox (Stanford) 48.91 6. Courtney Allen (Northwestern) 49.38 7. Stefanie Williams (Georgia) 49.47 8. Lindsey Farella (Arizona) 49.49200-YARD BREASTSTROKE
1. Kristy Kowal (Georgia) 2:07.66 2. Elin Austevoll (Stanford) 2:09.99 3. Madeleine Crippen (Villanova) 2:11.66 4. Riley Mants (Arizona State) 2:12.47 5. Katie McClelland (SMU) 2:12.58 6. Jamie Skinner (Georgia) 2:12.77 7. Annemieke McReynolds (Auburn) 2:12.80 8. Amy Balcerzak (Northwestern) 2:13.64 12. Kristin MacGregor (USC) 2:13.51
200-YARD BUTTERFLY
1. Limin Liu (Nevada) 1:53.36 2. Misty Hyman (Stanford) 1:53.60 3. Karen Campbell (USC) 1:57.43 4. Katie Younglove (UCLA) 1:57.88 5. Joscelin Yeo (California) 1:59.04 6. Destiny Lauren (Nebraska) 1:59.41 7. Gina Panighetti (Wisconsin) 2:00.58 8. Trina Jackson (Arizona) 2:01.09 25. Nora Zhong (USC) 2:01.99 31. Katie Meyer (USC) 2:02.79PLATFORM DIVING
1. Laura Wilkinson (Texas) 664.75 2. Jenny Keim (Miami) 635.10 3. Natalia Diea (Texas) 619.50 4. Kathy Pesek (Tennessee) 610.35 5. Tammy Crystal (Georgia) 606.30 6. Kim Powers (Stanford) 604.90 7. Ashley Culpepper (LSU) 590.45 8. Lindsay Berryman (Arizona) 546.40400-YARD FREESTYLE RELAY
1. Arizona (Farella, Knapp, Mastin, Tolar) 3:16.49 2. California (Chiang, Cope, Kolbisen, Yeo) 3:16.56 3. Michigan (Eberwein, Crisman, Sugar, Shakespeare) 3:16.58 4. Stanford (Rose, Smith, Bereknyei, Fox) 3:17.72 5. SMU (Elwani, Wimer, Myers, Imoto) 3:17.92 6. Georgia (Williams, Permenter, Timmons, Shealy) 3:18.66 7. Virginia (Roesch, Trakas, Cronk, McCubbins) 3:20.42 8. Northwestern (Allen, Bowman, Igoe, Diezi) 3:20.73 12. USC (Benko, Campbell, Francis, Zhong) 3:21.69
