18 SCAC Swimmers and Divers Selected for 2023 NCAA Division III Championships

18 SCAC Swimmers and Divers Selected for 2023 NCAA Division III Championships

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The NCAA released the selections for the 2023 Division III Swimming and Diving Champions and 18 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference student-athletes made the cut. MEN'S PSYCH SHEET WOMEN'S PSYCH SHEET

Trinity University will be represented by 15 swimmers, which includes multiple relays, and one diver, while both Austin College and Colorado College will each send one swimmer.

Individually on the women's side, 2023 SCAC Swimmer of the Meet, first-year Neely Burns of Trinity holds the top qualifying spot across the league, ranked fifth in the 400-yard IM with a time of 4:21.76. Burns is also scheduled to compete in the 200-yard IM (2:03.23) and 200-yard breaststroke (2:17.35), ranked 13th and 14th respectively. Burns' teammate, junior Emma Hagan will be making her second consecutive appearance at the NCAA Championships as an individual qualifier, ranked 18th in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 51.12.

Colorado College senior Kate Brush returns to the national stage for the second-straight year after record breaking performances at last month's SCAC Championship. Brush qualified eight in the 200-yard butterfly (2:02.13) and ninth the 100-yard butterfly (55.08).

Rounding out the individual qualifiers in the pool on the women's side is Austin College junior Sammi Thiele. Thiele, who set an SCAC record at the championships last month in the 100-yard backstroke (56.22) is ranked 19th going into the national meet. She is the first 'Roo swimmer to ever earn a spot at the NCAA Division III Championship Meet.

In the diving well, 2023 SCAC Diver of the Meet, sophomore Alexis Radhakrishnan qualified for the national meet for the second consecutive season for her performance at last weekend's NCAA Div. III Diving Regional. Radhakrishnan qualified for Nationals by way of her combined score from the two-day event. She finished fifth on the 3-meter (402.55) and sixth on the 1-meter (366.85), good enough to claim the fifth and final qualifying spot.

Trintiy's Burns and Hagan will be joined by first-years Audrey Jacobson and Erica Peterson to compete in the 800-yard freestyle relay where they are seeded 17th in the event with a time of 7:33.15. Burns, Hagan and Jacobson will be joined by junior Caroline Myers to complete the 17th ranked 400-yard freestyle relay squad that qualified with a time of 3:28.51.

First-years Rachel Brown and Juliana Wiehrdt will be teaming up with Hagan and Myers to complete Trinty's 200-yard freestyle relay quartet. The Tigers are ranked 20th in the event with a time of 1:34.86. Finally, Hagan, Myers and sophomore Josie Gillentine along with first-year Julie Schwam are all set to compete in the 400-yard medley relay. That quartet is ranked 19th after qualifying with a time of 3:48.12.  

One the men's side, 2023 SCAC Swimmer of the Meet, junior Michael Kohl of Trinity will pace the field of SCAC individuals after qualifying for his second-consecutive national meet. Kohl, a Second Team All-American last season in the 100-yard butterfly, qualified this year sixth with a time of 47.56. Kohl's teammate sophomore Calib Manifold ranks 19th in the same event with a time of 48.18.

Other individual highlights include Trinty juniors Nathaniel Early and Kendal Southwell returning to the national stage for the second-straight year. Early qualified 20th in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:39.16, while Southwell is seeded 23rd in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:01.25.  

In the relay events, Kohl, Early and Manifold will be joined by senior Nolan Anthony to compete in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The quartet is ranked ninth with a qualifying time of 1:20.77. Anthony, Kohl, Manifold and Southwell join ranks to form a Tiger 200-yard medley relay that is ranked 10th going into nationals with a qualifying time of 1:28.61.

Finally, Kohl, Early and Manifold with be joined by senior Matteo Lanzara to compete in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The foursome is ranked 13th in the event with a time of 3:00.56.

The championships will be held March 15-18 at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, North Carolina. Old Dominion Athletic Conference and Greensboro Aquatic Center will serve as hosts. A total of 579 participants (526 swimmers and 53 divers) will compete in the championships.

NCAA.com will video stream all sessions of the championships, Wednesday through Saturday.