Kastes and Carr gain all-American status at NCAA Championships

COLUMBUS, OHIO – University of Arkansas freshman Katie Kastes and junior Stephanie Carr earned all-American honors in the final day of competition at the 2008 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships held at Ohio State’s McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion.

Kastes finished ninth in the 200 butterfly and Carr placed 15th in the 1,650 freestyle designating both Lady Razorbacks as honorable mention all-Americans. Kastes turned in the best finish any Arkansas swimmer has ever had at the championships.

“We had an awesome day today,” said head coach Jeff Poppell. “We brought four girls to the meet and three of them went home as all Americans. I’m very proud of all the young ladies. It was an incredible year and I can’t think of a better way to end our season.”

Kastes touched in with a school record and career-best time of 1:55.66 in the finals of the 200 fly. Her prelim time was 1:56.70, good enough for a 10th-place finish and a trip to the consolation finals. The Palm Harbor, Fla., native swam and won the consolation finals for ninth place and turned in the sixth fastest time overall in the event. Kastes shaved over two seconds off of her previous personal-best and school-record time of 1:57.87.

Carr’s time of 16:16.01 in the 1,650 free was the second fastest in school history. Carr holds the record with a 16:12.90 that she earned at the Southeastern Conference Championships.

Freshman Ashley Largo swam the 1,650 freestyle and finished 31st with a 16:38.86. Largo’s time was the second fastest of her career.

Arkansas swimming and diving tallied 14 points and finished 35th overall. Fifty teams scored at the championships. Arizona (484) won the title, followed by Auburn (348), Stanford (343), Texas A&M (315) and California (291). Four SEC teams were in the top 10, including Auburn, Florida, Georgia and Tennessee.

The 2008 Championships mark the first time since 2004 that any Lady’Back has competed at NCAA’s. It is the most athletes Arkansas has sent since 2003 when five student-athletes qualified. The previous best finish by an Arkansas swimmer was 12th in the 1,650 free by Whitney Lynn in 2003.

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