GREENSBORO, N.C. – Breaking the school record in both prelims and finals, University of Sioux Falls Swimming's 200-yard medley relay of
Cassie Wright,
Chantal Kasch,
Ingelin Lima and
Kyjana Webber became the first Cougars to score at the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships in the program's two-year history. On the first day of the national championship meet, USF competed in two events as Wright and
Giulia Marcon both swam in the 50 free prelims, but did not advance to the finals.
In the B Finals, USF entered as the top seed of their heat after a school record 1:42.86 time that was nearly two seconds faster than the record set when the same foursome won the event at the NSIC Championships, the first conference title in program history. In the finals session, USF narrowly missed the heat victory with a time of 1:42.44 as all four swimmers improved on their prelim splits and the Cougars finished second in their heat, earning 10th place overall.
One of the top backstrokers in NCAA Division II, Wright led the Cougars off with a 25.25-second split in the finals. Kasch swam the breaststroke leg and improved on her prelim split with a 29.80-second leg in the finals. Lima followed and cut a tenth of a second off her prelim split with a 24.44-second time in her butterfly split. Webber brought the Cougars home with an impressive finishing leg, clocking a 22.95-second freestyle split. USF's 10th-place finish event earned them 14 points in the team score, the first points scored for the USF Swimming program, which is in its second year of competition.
Earlier in the day, Wright and Marcon swam in the 50 free prelims. Wright posted the top time between the two as she nearly broke the school record and missed the finals by less than a tenth of a second. Wright turned in a 23.45-second time, 0.02 off
Ingelin Lima's school record, and she finished tied for 21st. Marcon, who will also swim in the 100, 200 and 500 free prelims at the national championships along with legs on the 200 and 400 free relays, placed 42nd with a prelims time of 23.81 seconds.
Sioux Falls continues competition at the NCAA Championships with day two on Thursday, Feb. 15. USF will open competition in the 200 free relay, followed by Marcon in the 200 free and closing the trials with the 400 medley relay. Trials for day two begin at 9 a.m. (CST) and finals will take place at 5 p.m. (CST).
