UGA’s women’s swimming and diving team, top-ranked going into the 18th annual NCAA  championships, stayed on the top to win the title March 18-20. The meet was held at Gabrielsen Natatorium in the Ramsey Student Center at the University of Georgia.
On the way to the title, the Lady Bulldogs captured four individual titles, three of which came on the final day of competition to catapult the Georgians out of reach of defending champion Stanford. Georgia ended the competition with 504.5 points to Stanford’s 441.
Senior Julie Varozza won the 1,650-yard freestyle and sophomore Keegan Walkley captured the 200-yard backstroke. Junior Kristy Kowal then sealed the win with a performance of 2:07.66 in the 200-yard breaststroke, a new American record. Kowal also won the 100-yard breaststroke.
Student ticket buying plan
A new student ticket policy and procedure, designed to streamline both purchase and pick up of tickets, will be implemented this spring.
The plan calls for students to sign up for their football tickets in the spring with pick up of the actual tickets in the fall.
Random assignment of seat locations and a week-long sign-up period will eliminate the need for long lines of students waiting to purchase tickets.
An 18-member committee of UGA administrators and students conducted an extensive study of the situation during the fall. The study encompassed surveys of procedures at many other schools in addition to considering different plans which might be workable at UGA.
“The committee did an outstanding job of pulling together the various factors that impact students at our university,” says athletic director Vince Dooley, who charged the committee this past fall.
“We wanted to be sure to have significant student input along with that of many other campus departments including student affairs, security, the registrar’s office and University Computing and Networking Services,” he adds. “I think we’ve come up with a plan that is both fair and equitable to all students and one that can be carried out with a degree of organization and efficiency.”
Sprinter captures NCAA title
Sprinter Debbie Ferguson added to her stellar collegiate career March 6, by capturing the women’s 60-meter dash national title.
Ferguson’s clocked time of 7.24 gave the Lady Bulldogs 10 points, and that total was good enough for a four-way tie for 10th place at the 1999 NCAA Indoor Championships.
Coming off the previous week’s Southeastern Conference 55-meter title, Ferguson qualified for the finals by finishing fourth in Friday’s preliminaries. Her NCAA championship time was also a season-high.
“When it’s as short as a 60-meter dash, everything has to be great from start to finish,” Ferguson said. “I figured that today, with all the great competition, I would have to start out of the gate right away, and I was able to win the race.”
Ferguson’s career has been capped with championships. Her career total of meet victories is now at 32 and counting. Among those 32 titles are now four NCAA championships including the 200-meters at the 1996 NCAA Indoors and the 100- and 200-meters at the 1998 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
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