Sacred Heart Prep grad Ally Howe will leave Stanford knowing she helped bring the school two NCAA swimming and diving championships and a plethora of related accomplishments.
Palo Alto grad Grace Zhao is just getting started, acquiring her first two All-American honors, in the 100 breast and 200 breast, in her freshman season.
Howe finished the NCAA meet with six All-American honors and a total of 19 for her career. She’s won seven national titles as part of the 200 medley relay and 400 medley relay teams and earned her first individual title, in the 100 back, this meet.
Howe was one of nine Cardinal swimmers to earn 13 national titles and help Stanford repeat as national champions.
The Cardinal had 16 different All-Americans combine for 51 All-America honors, five American records, eight individual national championships and five relay titles during the four-day NCAA championship meet inside McCorkle Aquatic Center in Columbus, Ohio.
Stanford’s 13 event victories tied the all-time record set several times, last by Stanford in 1993. Stanford is just the third school to sweep all five relays at the NCAA Championships, joining Georgia in 2005 and Arizona in 2008.
Stanford’s 593 points were the most since Georgia had 609.5 in 2005 and the most for the program since the Cardinal totaled 649.5 in 1993. Cal was second with 373 points’ the 220-point difference was the third-largest margin of victory at the NCAA Championships and the largest since 1993 (Stanford over Florida, 649.5-421).
Stanford won its 10th NCAA title and 11th overall, the most in the nation, and marks the program’s first back-to-back NCAA championships since winning five straight from 1992-96. The Cardinal also earned its 38th straight top-eight finish (every year the NCAA has sponsored a championship meet).
“This is an amazing group,” said Cardinal coach Greg Meehan. “They inspire us as coaches every day, and they inspire our amazing families and fans. And we draw inspiration off of representing Stanford at this stage. We’re going back to The Farm with the 116th national championship for Stanford University.”
“It’s truly so inspiring watching these people compete,” senior diver Kassidy Cook said of her teammates. “We are surrounded by greatness every single day. I watched Ally Howe win the backstroke and I got goosebumps everywhere, and it made me so pumped to compete. They make you want to be better.”
Ella Eastin was named the Swimmer of the Meet. She set two American records in helping earn two relay titles and a meet-best three individual national titles.
In addition to Saturday’s victory in the 200-yard butterfly, Eastin swept the individual medleys with a pair of American records. On Thursday, she set the NCAA and American standards in the 200 individual medley at 1:50.67, and on Friday, she shattered the American record in the 400 IM by nearly two seconds (3:54.60). She was also a member of the winning 800 free relay on Wednesday, and the 400 free relay that capped the record-setting meet.
Meehan won the NCAA Coach of the Year award for the second consecutive season and the third time overall. He is the fifth coach to win the award at least three times and the second Stanford coach to do so, joining five-time winner Richard Quick (1984-86, 1989, 1992).
Olympian Katie Ledecky celebrated her 21st birthday on Saturday with her second straight national title in the 1,650-yard freestyle, Olympian Simone Manuel won her third NCAA title in the 100 free, Eastin was tops in the 200 fly and the 400 free relay put the exclamation point on it all.
Ledecky, Janet Evans (1990-91) and Marybeth Linzmeier (1982-84) are the only Cardinal swimmers to win the 1,650 free at NCAA’s. Ledecky pulled away from the field early and won her second individual title of the meet with one of the fastest finishes of all-time at 15:07.91. It was 30 seconds faster than the rest of the field.
In her final individual event, Manuel touched the wall first with the second-fastest time in history at 45.65 in the 100 free. She remains the only woman to break 46 seconds in the event after her American record-setting swim of 45.56 at the national championship meet last year.
Manuel became the fifth woman to win three NCAA titles in the 100 free, and the second Cardinal (Jenny Thompson, 1992-95). She won the 100 free each year she competed (2015, 2017, 2018) and is the first to repeat in the event since Arizona’s Margo Geer (2013-14).
An emotional Manuel fought through tears in her post-race interview with ESPN, and received a standing ovation from the crowd.
“I really just wanted to go out there and do my best. This was my last race as a Stanford Cardinal,” Manuel said. “I have so many people to thank. Definitely my family, my coaches and my teammates. They drive me every day to be a better swimmer and also a better person outside the water. I’m really grateful to all the people who have supported me throughout my career.”
Stanford went 1-2 in the 200 fly, led by Eastin, who sprinted to a finish of 1:50.01 to become the first Cardinal to win back-to-back titles in this event since Olympian Elaine Breeden (2009-10). The only other Cardinal to accomplish the feat was Olympian Summer Sanders in 1991-92.
“I set pretty high goals for myself and that was one of them,” Eastin said of winning three individual national titles. “I think it’s a testament to everything my team has been able to do for me.”
This was the first time Stanford took the top two spots on the 200 fly podium since Olympians Misty Hyman and Shelly Ripple in 2001. Sophomore Katie Drabot touched the wall at 1:51.73 to claim silver.
This was the second time Stanford claimed both gold and silver in an event this week. Eastin beat out Ledecky in the 400 individual medley on Friday.
Stanford made history in the final event. The Cardinal swept the relays and matched the most event victories in NCAA meet history.
Stanford won the 400 free relay for the fourth time in the last five years with a time of 3:07.94. Janet Hu, in her 14th swim of the meet and the final of her collegiate career, posted the fastest 100 free split of her career at 47.49. Eastin followed with a split of 47.13 and Drabot finished in 47.85.
For the second straight night and third time this week, Manuel faced a deficit in the anchor leg and made up all of it with one of the fastest splits in history. In her 13th swim of the meet and her final one as a Cardinal, she finished her leg of the 100 free in 45.47.
“I just wanted to give it all I had. This team has given me so much and I just wanted to give it right back in that swim,” Manuel said. “Finishing off in first place — that is just the perfect senior moment.”
“We have just accomplished amazing things together, and they are my very best friends,” Eastin said of her teammates. “And we couldn’t ask for anything better.”
Stanford added eight other All-American efforts on the final day of competition.
Alongside Ledecky in the 1,650 free, sophomore Megan Byrnes and junior Leah Stevens each earned their third career All-America honors, including their second straight first-team honors in the event.
Byrnes knocked four seconds off her previous collegiate-best with a fourth-place finish of 15:43.68, while Stevens became the fourth Cardinal in history to break 15:50 in the event with an impressive fifth-place effort of 15:49.07. Olympian Janet Evans is the only other Cardinal under the 15:50 threshold.
Senior Lindsey Engel concluded her career with an All-America award in the 200 fly. Engel finished 11th in 1:54.27 for her ninth and final All-America accolade, which included six individual honors — three apiece in the 100 and 200 fly.
In the 200 backstroke, seniors Howe and Hu swam in their final individual races. The pair combined for 44 All-American honors in their careers. Hu earned her third in this event with a career-best eighth-place finish (1:52.76).
Meanwhile, also in the 200 back, sophomore Erin Voss earned her first career All-America honor. She swam a collegiate-best 1:51.91 in the prelims.