INDIANAPOLIS -- It was another meet, and another national title for Lindsay Benko.

Benko, an Olympian and Indiana native, led all the way and won the 400-meter freestyle in 4 minutes, 11.34 seconds Friday at the U.S. National Spring Swimming Championships.

It was Benko's ninth national title.

Flavia Rigamonti of Southern Methodist finished second in 4:12.38. Morgan Hentzen of Industry Hills, Calif., was third.

"I knew those girls were going to come back on me,'' Benko said. "They were all tough.

"It's pretty exciting to beat a field like that. Any time you win a national title, it's pretty exciting.''

Klete Keller, the 2002 Olympic bronze medalist and American record holder, overtook early leader Chad Carvin after 300 meters and swam away from the field, winning the 400 in 3:48.15.

Larsen Jenssen, who won the 800 meters Tuesday, was second in 3:51.13. Erik Vendt of USC was third, and Carvin faded to fourth.

"I like to back-half when I swim, but today, I took it to an extreme,'' Keller said of his strong second half. "I went out way too slow.

"I was sticking with the rest of the field the first 200. It felt too easy. That's why I had so much at the end.''

Keller admitted some surprise with his margin.

"We haven't had a heat with that many names for a while,'' he said. "I didn't expect to be so far ahead at the end.''

Michael Phelps, the 17-year-old from North Baltimore, won his third championship in as many days by taking the 100-meter breaststroke in 51.89 seconds, just one-hundredth of a second off his American record. Phelps has 10 national titles.

NCAA champion Tara Kirk of Stanford University won the women's 100 breaststroke in 1:08.56.

Misty Hyman claimed her 12th national title by winning the 100 butterfly in 59.74.

Ed Moses was just eight-hundredths off his American record in the 100 breaststroke with a finish of 1:00.21.

The UBC Dolphins team of Brian Johns, Mike Mintenko, Brent Hayden and Mark Johnston set a meet record of 7:19.46 in the 800 freestyle relay. They broke the 14-year-old mark of 7:22.78 established by the Longhorn Swim team.