The first night of the NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving National Championships in Greensboro, NC, proved a golden one for the New York University
eighth-ranked women's team.
Picking up a first-place trophy, two First Team All-American statues, and two Second Team All-American performances on Wednesday, the women currently sit in eighth place. Third-ranked Denison University is in the lead while second-ranked Emory University is in second.
Swimming:
Kaley McIntyre stormed the field in the 50 freestyle, smashing the wall first in 22.78 to obliterate her own program record set at the
University Athletic Association Championships by 0.48 seconds. Her performance earned her a First Team All-American at her first collegiate Nationals.
"Kaley's race was awesome," Head Coach
Trevor Miele said. "From day one, she's worked so hard and it's so cool to see her win today. She deserves it."
Caitlin Marshall also posted a FIrst Team finish in the 500 freestyle, clocking a career-best 4:52.81 to finish in fourth place.
"Caitlin is one of the hardest workers I've ever coached," Miele said. "She's been doing that all year. Even though you can never predict how a race will go, Caitlin is as close as it gets."
Georgia Basil recorded 4:59.19 in the consolation finals of the 500 freestyle, earning Second Team All-American with sixth place in her heat and 14th overall. In the time trial session earlier on Wednesday, Basil delivered a best time of 4:58.78, chopping 1.62 seconds off her previous record from the
UAA Championships.
Diving:
Earlier in the day,
Issara Schmidt and
Katherine Nardone competed in the three-meter dive.
Schmidt produced a Second Team All-American performance, placing 11th with a total score of 398.55. Nardone tied for 19th with Izzy Doud of ninth-ranked consortium Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, totaling 376.15 in the final three-meter of the senior's career.
"It was about the toughest competition I've ever seen at the Nationals level," Head Diving Coach
Todd Kolean said. "It all came down to just a few points here and there. Katherine, as a senior and at her first Nationals, was pretty great and finished up her three-meter career knowing she dove well. Issara finished 18th here last year and moved up to finish 11th. We probably left a few points out there but overall she was amazing."
Day 2 of Nationals will begin with the time trial session at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, March 16, in Greensboro, NC.
