Virginia Advances 14 Swimmers to NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships
NCAA Release | Invited Swimmers by Team | Invited Relays | Psych Sheet
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.- Fourteen members of the No. 5 Virginia women’s swimming and diving team qualified for the 2019 NCAA Championships (March 20-23) at the Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center in Austin, Texas, the NCAA announced on Wednesday (March 6). The program qualified in all five relays for the 11th consecutive year.
Virginia will be represented by seniors Eryn Eddy (Loveland, Colo.) and Vivian Tafuto (Hummelstown, Pa.) redshirt junior Megan Moroney (Deerfield Beach, Fla.), junior Morgan Hill (Olney, Md.), sophomores Caroline Gmelich (Rumson, N.J.), Paige Madden (Mobile, Ala.), Marcella Maguire (Ridgefield, Conn.), Abby Richter (Henderson, Nev.), Emma Seiberlich (Audubon, Pa.) and Kyla Valls (Miami, Fla.), and freshmen Kaki Christensen (Darien, Conn.), Julia Menkhaus (Charlotte, N.C.), Jessica Nava (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and Alexis Wenger (Detroit, Mich.).
Virginia qualified the second-largest swimming roster, behind Stanford who will send 18 swimmers to the women’s national meet. The 14 swimmers is the most the program has qualified (not including alternates) since the team advanced 16 in 2010.
The Cavaliers finished ninth at last year’s NCAA Championships, recording the program’s fifth consecutive year with a top-15 finish. Virginia concluded the meet with 10 individual All-American honorees and four All-American relay teams.
Hill leads the team, making her third consecutive NCAA appearance. The seven-time All-American enters the meet after capturing two 2019 ACC titles at the conference championships.
Eddy and Tafuto will make their fourth appearance, advancing to the national meet all four years of their career.
Moroney qualified for her third trip to the NCAA Championships. She earned a combined eight All-American honors in 2016 and 2018.
Madden, Seiberlich, Richter and Valls will compete in their second NCAA Championships, while Gmelich, Maguire, Christensen, Menkhaus, Nava and Wenger are making their first appearance.
The Virginia women’s diving team will compete at the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships (March 11-13) at the Lejeune Hall in Annapolis, Md., as members of the team look to qualify for the national championships.
The Women’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships will begin March 20 at the Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center in Austin, Texas.
Virginia Individual Qualifiers
Kaki Christensen- 200 Breaststroke
Eryn Eddy- 200 Freestyle
Caroline Gmelich- 100 Backstroke
Morgan Hill- 50 Freestyle, 100 Butterfly, 100 Freestyle
Paige Madden- 500 Freestyle, 200 Freestyle, 200 Backstroke
Marcella Maguire- 100 Backstroke
Julia Menkhaus- 200 Butterfly
Megan Moroney- 200 Freestyle, 100 Backstroke, 200 Backstroke
Jessica Nava- 100 Butterfly, 200 Butterfly
Abby Richter- 200 Individual Medley
Emma Seiberlich- 200 Backstroke
Vivian Tafuto- 200 Breaststroke
Kyla Valls- 100 Freestyle
Alexis Wenger- 100 Breaststroke