Siow finishes on high note at NCAAs

FAYETTEVILLE— University of Arkansas swimmer Yi-Ting Siow matched the best NCAA individual performance in school history and recorded the second-fastest 200-yard breaststroke in Southeastern Conference history, finishing fourth in her strongest event Saturday at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships at Boilermaker Aquatic Center in West Lafayette, Ind.

Siow’s time of 2 minutes, 7.73 seconds was just seven-hundredths of a second behind the SEC record held by 1999 NCAA champion Kristy Kowal of Georgia and broke Siow’s own school record of 2:08.41, set at last year’s NCAA championships. The senior also tied her own fourth-place finish in the same event at last year’s NCAA meet.

By finishing in the top 16, Siow also wrapped up her college career as a four-time All-American.

“Yi-Ting had the swim of her life tonight in the 200y breaststroke and came within three-tenths of a second of winning an NCAA title,” Arkansas coach Jeff Poppell said.

Texas A&M’s Alia Atkinson won the 200y breaststroke with a time of 2:07.38.

Fellow senior Leah Pierce finished 30th in the 200y breaststroke with a time of 2:13.21 in the morning’s preliminaries.

Junior Jamie Marks touched in at 16:20.56 in the 1,650y freestyle to place 25th.

“I am extremely proud of all three girls and the way they competed this weekend,” Poppell said. “Both Leah and Yi-Ting finish their careers having provided an enormous impact to our swimming program. I am thankful to have had an opportunity to coach them both. For Jamie, she will return next year as a senior, and we will look to her to provide valuable leadership so that we can bring an even larger group back to the NCAA Championships.”

Arkansas finished 34th as a team with 15 total points.