Virginia Qualifies School Record 16 Swimmers for NCAA Championships
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia women’s swimming team has qualified a school-record 16 student-athletes for the 2010 NCAA Championships, a number which also ranks as the third-most in the nation. The meet is schedule for March 18-20 at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind.
Only Arizona (18) and Georgia (17) qualified more student-athletes for the national meet.
“We are thrilled and honored to have such a large representation at the NCAA meet,” Virginia head coach Mark Bernardino said. “We are looking forward to competing at the highest level possible. I want to commend the assistant coaches – Chip Kline, Doak Finch and Katie Robinson – for their great work in helping our athletes be focused all season.”
Katya Bachrouche, Meredith Cavalier, Mei Christensen, Claire Crippen, Hannah Davis, Amanda Faulkner, Kelly Flynn, Jenna Harris, Katherine McDonnell, Kristen Moores, Anne Summer Myers, Jen Narum, Christine Olson, Lauren Perdue, Liz Shaw and Lauren Smart have each been selected to participate in the NCAA Championships.
Christensen, Olson, Perdue and Smart each earned automatic qualifications into the NCAA Championships. Christensen is the highest seeded Cavalier of the meet; she has the second-fastest time in the nation on the 100 back (51.71) and the fourth-fastest in the 200 back (1:52.18). She also qualified in the 50 free. She is coming off individual titles in the 100 and 200 back at the league championships.
Perdue also has a top seed with the third-fastest time in the 200 free (1:43.86); she will also swim in the 50 and 100 free events, all of which she won at the ACC Championships last month.
Smart nabbed an NCAA ‘A’ cut in the 100 back (52.84) earlier this season; she is also set to swim in the 100 fly and 200 back. She is the defending conference champion in the 100 fly. Olson tied for first-place honors at ACCs in the 200 breast with her NCAA ‘A’ time of 2:07.94.
For the second consecutive year, all five Cavalier relay teams will compete at the national meet. Virginia’s 200 medley relay team earned an automatic berth with an NCAA ‘A’ time of 1:37.33.
“This is a great indicator of where the program is headed,” Bernardino said. “Virginia is one of the fastest rising women’s programs in the nation and we are looking for a record performance at the NCAA meet. We hope to compete for a national championship down the line but in the short term we are going to try to move into the top-10 and consistently and steadily move forward.”
Virginia previously qualified 12 swimmers in 2009, where the squad earned a 12th-place finish at the NCAA Championships. The highest finish in school history for the Cavaliers was a seventh-place showing in 1988.
2010 NCAA Women’s Qualifiers
Virginia Relays
200 Free Relay
400 Free Relay
800 Free Relay
200 Medley Relay
400 Medley Relay
Katya Bachrouche, Junior*
500 Free
1650 Free
400 IM
Meredith Cavalier, Freshman*
100 Back
Mei Christensen, Senior
50 Free
100 Back
200 Back
Claire Crippen, Junior
200 IM
400 IM
200 Fly
Hannah Davis, Junior
50 Free
100 Free
Amanda Faulkner, Junior*
200 IM
400 IM
200 Breast
Kelly Flynn, Sophomore*
50 Free
100 Free
200 Free
Jenna Harris, Senior
200 Free
500 Free
1650 Free
Katherine McDonnell, Senior
100 Breast
200 Breast
200 IM
Kristen Moores, Junior
100 Free
200 Free
Anne Summer Myers, Junior*
500 Free
1650 Free
400 IM
Jen Narum, Senior
200 Free
500 Free
1650 Free
Christine Olson, Freshman*
100 Breast
200 Breast
400 IM
Lauren Perdue, Freshman*
50 Free
100 Free
200 Free
Liz Shaw, Junior
200 IM
400 IM
200 Fly
Lauren Smart, Sophomore
100 Back
200 Back
100 Fly
*Making first NCAA Championships appearance