National Collegiate Athletic Association

The NCAA News - News and Features

March 10, 1997

Division II

Air Force's departure to Division I leaves championship up for grabs

Event: 1997 Division II Women's Swimming and Diving Championships.

Overview: There will be a changing of the guard this year as two-time defending champion Air Force has moved on to Division I. Oakland, which won five straight titles before Air Force snapped the skein in 1995, could regain the throne but must stop a rapidly rising Drury squad to do so. And there's no time to lose for Oakland, because like Air Force last year, the Pioneers will be moving to Division I in 1998, making this their swan song. "We don't want to focus on that so much that we don't let our kids enjoy the experience," Pioneer coach Tracy Huth said. Oakland was hit hard by graduation and in addition lost medley specialist Jennifer Stair to a knee injury earlier this year. "We lost a good senior class and we were not able to replace that," Huth said. "But we still feel good about what we're taking to nationals. We may not have the talent or depth that Drury does, but I'd like to think we're pretty close in a group behind them" ... Drury returns several individual champions from 1996, including Nida Zuhal, who won both butterflys and the 200-yard individual medley. Defending 200-yard freestyle champion Viktoria Gadd also returns along with Christina Tompkins, champion in last year's 400-yard individual medley. "Drury has a team that reminds me of some of ours in the past," Huth said. "They have a strong nucleus and enough depth to fill in the other places you need. They don't have a glaring weakness. And Brian is an excellent coach."

Field: The meet is open to all qualifiers who have met the NCAA's established minimum standard in an event. Entries are unlimited in number; however, no team is allowed more than 18 competitors.

Dates and site: The championships will be March 12-15 at the Palo Alto College Natatorium in San Antonio, hosted by the San Antonio Sports Foundation.

Information/results: The fax-on-demand telephone number is 770/399-3060 (passcode 1915); request numbers are 5203 for the first day's results, 5204 for the second day's results, 5205 for the third day's results and 5206 for the final day's results. Individual and team results also will be available on the World Wide Web at www.ncaa.org. Championships results will be published in the March 24 issue of The NCAA News.