The University of Georgia won four national titles Friday night and surged to a 53-point lead during Day Two of the 2006 NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships at Gabrielsen Natatorium.

The defending national champion Lady Bulldogs began Friday's action by breaking a pool record in the 200-yard medley relay with a mark of 1:37.24 and followed it up with three more wins. Georgia trimmed the former record held by Stanford in the 200-yard medley relay by .53 of a second.

After the second day of competition, Georgia head coach Jack Bauerle was pleased about his team's performance, but he understands the meet is far from over.

"We're fortunate for this morning," Bauerle said. "We had a great morning that led us to a great night. We gave ourselves a chance tonight. Auburn has a good diving team, Arizona has a good diving team and we don't have divers here. So this is going to be a horserace."

Trailing Georgia are Auburn (326), Arizona (315), California (205) and Stanford (164). The final day of the meet on Saturday begins with the preliminary rounds at 11 a.m. and the finals to follow at 7 p.m.

The Lady Bulldogs registered their second and third wins in the 100-yard butterfly and the 200-yard freestyle, respectively. In the 100 fly, senior Mary DeScenza defended her title and broke her own pool record with a time of 51.56. Junior Kara Lynn Joyce became the first Georgia swimmer to win an NCAA title in the 200 free since Maritza Correia in 2000 after finishing in 1:43.96.

The Lady Bulldogs capped their second-day success by setting a new pool record and winning the 800-yard free relay (7:03.75) with DeScenza, freshman Jessica Cole, junior Claire Maust and Joyce.

Arizona, which held a 10-point lead over Auburn for first place after the first day, continued its success by taking first in the 400-yard individual medley. Chalking up the first win in the event in school history, sophomore Whitney Myers finished with a pool-record time of 4:06.32. Myers also captured an NCAA crown in the 200-yard individual medley and was a leg on Arizona's winning 400-yard medley relay team on Friday.

"I'm still stunned (that I won the race)," Myers said. "I'm really proud of how I did. I was hurting in that last 100 yards but no guts, no glory. This is the first time I've ever swum the 400 (individual medley) in a major meet."

In the 100-yard breaststroke, California freshman Jessica Hardy chalked up her team's first win by clocking a 1:00.02. After Stanford had won the last five championships in the event, Hardy managed to win her school its first race in the 100 breast and keep her team in the top five.

Auburn kept itself near the top of the standings by having sophomore Rachel Goh edge a pool record in the 100-yard backstroke for a national title as she finished in 52.35.

Southern California's Blythe Hartley won her second NCAA title of the meet after recording a first-place finish in the 3-meter dive (373.15). Hartley also won the title in this event in 2005. In the 1-meter dive on Thursday, Hartley scored 353.50 to take first.