Janet Evans, invincible in the 800-freestyle since 1987, lost her crown to 15-year-old Brooke Bennett.

Bennett won her first national title at the Phillips 66 Championships in 8 minutes, 31.84 seconds - the fastest time in the world this year.

Evans, 23, finished fourth in 8:37.39, well off her world record of

8:16.22 set in 1989.

“If those girls had won with 8:19s, I’d be saying, ‘See ya, I’ll watch you girls from the side,’ ” Evans said, “but I don’t think that it’s any kind of message. If it is, it’s a message to myself that I’ve got to sit down and figure out what’s going on.”