Stanford Defends Their 2017 Win with a 2018 Women’s NCAA Team Title

2018 WOMEN’S NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS

The Stanford Cardinal fulfilled all expectations at the 2018 Women’s NCAA DI Championships tonight, winning the team title by a monster 220 points. They took the title with 593 points to second-place Cal’s 373 points. With that result, the Cardinal defended their 160.5-point win over Cal in Indy last season.

Much like last season, this performance was mind-bendingly historic. The team, coached by Greg Meehan in his sixth season, came away with five NCAA records, five American/U.S. Open records, thirteen gold medals, three silver medals, and two bronze medals.

Leading the way for the Cardinal were sophomore Katie Ledeckysenior (in her final seasonSimone Manuel, senior Ally Howeand junior Ella Eastin

Ledecky picked up three gold medals (800 free relay, 500 free, 1650 free) and a silver (400 IM). Manuel grabbed three American/NCAA/U.S. Open records (200 free relay, 400 medley relay, 200 medley relay), six gold medals (200 free relay, 50 free, 400 medley relay, 200 medley relay, 100 free, and 400 free relay), and a bronze medal (200 free). Howe took three American/U.S. Open/NCAA records (200 free relay, 400 medley relay, 200 medley relay), and four gold medals (200 free relay, 400 medley relay, 200 medley relay, 100 back). And Eastin put up the most-decorated individual performance of the meet with two American/NCAA/U.S. Open records (200 IM, 400 IM), and five gold medals (800 free relay, 200 IM, 400 IM, 200 fly, 400 free relay).

Highlights of the weekend for Stanford included American and NCAA records in prelims and finals of the 200 free relayEastin’s American record-shattering performance in the 200 IM, Manuel’s .01 away from her own NCAA record 50 free win, American and NCAA records in the 400 medley relay, Eastin’s 400 IM American record finish over her teammate Ledecky, Howe’s .01 from her own American record 100 back, an American record in the 200 medley relay, Ledecky’s huge wins in the 500 and 1650 free, and the 400 free relay’s come-from-behind victory to close out the meet.

The full team roster for the 2017-2018 Stanford national champions is below:

  • Megan Byrnes, sophomore
  • Kassidy Cook, senior (diving)
  • Katie Drabot, sophomore
  • Ella Eastin, junior
  • Lindsey Engel, senior
  • Haley Farnsworth, sophomore
  • Brooke Forde, freshman
  • Lauren Green, freshman
  • Ally Howe, senior
  • Janet Hu, senior
  • Hannah Kukurugya, freshman
  • Katie Ledecky, sophomore
  • Simone Manuel, senior
  • Lauren Pitzer, freshman
  • Leah Stevens, junior
  • Allie Szekely, sophomore
  • Erin Voss, sophomore
  • Kim Williams, junior
  • Grace Zhao, freshman

This is Stanford‘s tenth team win in history, following up their win last year. Last year’s win was a full 19 years after their previous national title in 1998.

With this win, Stanford extends their lead as the winningest team in history with 10 NCAA title wins added to 1 in the AIAW (an NCAA predecessor for women’s athletics). Texas and Georgia have seven team titles apiece, and Auburn has five. Here are all the times Stanford has won the team title:

You can see this weekend’s final team scores below: 

1. Stanford                          593   2. California                        373
  3. Texas A&M                         299   4. Michigan                          267
  5. Louisville                        232   6. Texas                           221.5
  7. Tennessee                       180.5   8. Indiana                           169
  9. Virginia                          161  10. Minnesota                         157
 11. Georgia                           135  12. Southern Cal                      127
 13. Ohio St                           123  14. Kentucky                           97
 15. Missouri                           86  16. Auburn                           82.5
 17. Wisconsin                          78  18. NC State                           70
 19. Purdue                             51  20. Arizona                            46
 20. South Carolina                     46  22. Northwestern                       40
 23. Arizona St                         34  24. University of Nevada               33
 25. UNC                                32  26. UCLA                               31
 27. Arkansas                           30  28. Hawaii                           29.5
 29. Penn St                            26  30. Alabama                            23
 31. Denver                             20  32. Eastern Mich                       18
 33. Virginia Tech                      14  33. Miami University                   14
 35. Nebraska                           11  35. Florida                            11
 37. Wyoming                             9  38. Louisiana State University          8
 39. Akron                               6  39. Rutgers                             6
 41. Notre Dame                          4  42. Duke                                3
 42. Florida St                          3  44. West Virginia                       2
 44. University of Miami                 2

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AvidSwimFan
6 years ago

It was a well earned and deserved win. Most athletes hit their taper right and appeared to peak at the biggest meet. Stanford swept the relays. They had the most finalists overall. Also, showed incredible depth. Correct me if I’m wrong, I think the only event they didn’t score was the 200 breaststroke (and 2 diving events). Despite the win last year, Cal was almost more impressive at the biggest meet by having most of the team peaking at NCAAs. This year there was absolutely no doubt about the most impressive team. Congrats to Stanford and their coaches/support staff.

CraigH
Reply to  AvidSwimFan
6 years ago

I think Grace Zhao scored in the 200 Breast?

AvidSwimFan
Reply to  CraigH
6 years ago

Yea, you’re right. She scored a point. That’s incredible that they scored in every swimming event as a team. Talk about depth.

Koolaid
6 years ago

Your scores aren’t right… corrected now, good looks!

Captain Ahab
6 years ago

Congratulations Stanford Women’s Swimming and Diving!! I have noticed, from videos, that coach Greg Meehan does a little bit more one on one talk with his athletes after they race. I also noticed more eye contact between Greg Meehan and his athletes which develop more assertiveness it also gave his swimmers more strength to push through. The combination of great swimmers and good coaching contributed to another national championship.

NormG
Reply to  Captain Ahab
6 years ago

Let me get this straight, Greg’s eye contact somehow gave his swimmers the strength to push through (and assertiveness)? That’s some rad coaching.

Adsf
6 years ago

Great wrap up article. Need to update the final total points for this year…593!

CraigH
6 years ago

Was scoring different in the early 90s? I remember the article a while back talking about how if Texas scores 600 points it would make them one of the all-time most dominant teams. How in the world did Stanford score over 700 points back in the day?!!

About Hannah Hecht

Hannah Hecht

Hannah Hecht grew up in Kansas and spent most of her childhood trying to convince coaches to let her swim backstroke in freestyle sets. She took her passion to Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa and swam at NAIA Nationals all four years. After graduating in 2015, she moved to …

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