LONG ISLAND, New York - The Stanford women's swimming and diving team placed second at the 2001 NCAA Championships concluding Saturday at the Nassau Aquatic Center, missing out on its ninth national title by only 1.5 points in the closest meet in NCAA history. Georgia won its third consecutive national championship with 389 points, while Stanford's 387.5 points placed the Cardinal second. Stanford led the meet by a slim 2.5 points heading into the final event of the night and needed to beat Georgia in the 400 freestyle relay to win the team title. The Cardinal finished fourth in the event, while the Bulldogs came up with a second place showing to move ahead of Stanford in the team standings. The top five was rounded out by Texas (350.5), Auburn (324) and Arizona (304).

Stanford senior Misty Hyman, a 2000 gold medallist in the 200 meter butterfly at the Sydney Olympics, finished her collegiate career by winning the 200 yard butterfly (1:53.63) in her final individual collegiate event on Saturday. Hyman won a total of three events during the three-day meet and concluded her collegiate career with 12 NCAA titles. Hyman also earned seven All-American honors at the meet and became only the second women's swimmer in Stanford history to earn the maximum 28 All-American honors over four years.

"This was a phenomenal effort by our team," said Stanford head coach Richard Quick. "I've never had a team compete any better than this team competed. I'm proud of each and every one of them. They represented Stanford University extremely well. They all came here with heart and to do the best they possibly could. When the smoke cleared, we didn't mind finding out where we were."

"I was very excited to win the 200 butterfly, and it was a great way to finish my collegiate career," said Hyman. "It was so good to be out there in front (during the race) and wearing the red Stanford parka (after winning). It couldn't have been better. I enjoyed it so much. It was also so sweet to have Stanford finish 1-2 in the event. This season has been all about team and to swim next to Shelly Ripple and have our team go 1-2, it was a real honor." Senior diver Erin Sones also completed her career with her first NCAA championship, winning the platform diving competition with a final score of 463.05 points.

"This was so fun," said Sones. "I'm a senior and this is the way to do it. It was really exciting to be able to help the team as much as I did."

Stanford won six of the 21 events during the three-day meet. The three titles by Hyman (200 butterfly, 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay) and Tara Kirk (100 breaststroke, 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay) led the Cardinal. Shelly Ripple and Siobhan Cropper won two national titles each as both were members of the winning 200 medley and 400 medley relay squads. Foschi (500 freestyle) and Sones (platform diving) each picked up one national title.

Stanford also had a couple of second place finishes on the event's final day. Foschi was the runner-up in the 1650 freestyle with a career-best time of 16:03.47, ranking her #3 on Stanford's all-time list. Kirk placed second in the 200 breaststroke (2:09.18), while Ripple was second in the 200 butterfly with a career-best mark of 1:54.95.

The Cardinal's fourth-place 400 freestyle relay team (3:17.74) consisted of Ripple, Hyman, Foschi and Cropper. Diver McKenze Murphy also scored for the Cardinal, finishing seventh (403.00 points) in platform diving. Lauren Thies placed 41st in the 100 freestyle (51.09). Stanford extended its string of top three NCAA finishes to 21 consecutive years.

California freshman Natalie Coughlin was named the NCAA Swimmer of the Year after setting four American records and a host of other marks during the meet. Other winners on Saturday were Virginia's Cara Lane (1650 freestyle, 15:53.86), Coughlin (200 backstroke, 1:51.02), Texas' Colleen Lanne (100 freestyle, 48.29), Arizona's Amanda Beard (200 breaststroke, 2:09.09) and the Texas 400 freestyle relay team (3:14.52).