Yao, Relays Earn Second-Team All-America Honors for Athenas Swim and Dive

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Allyson Yao qualified for the evening session to earn second-team All-America honors in the 400 IM (15th place), and the 200-yard freestyle and 400-yard medley relay teams both earned second-team All-America honors as well on the second day of the NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships on Thursday at the Greensboro Aquatic Center.

Yao, who is the second-fastest swimmer in Athena history in the 400 IM behind only national champion Augusta Lewis, reached the evening session with a 4:28.10 in prelims, earning the final spot by just four-hundredths of a second.  

The 200-yard freestyle relay team of Annika Sharma, Mackenzie Mayfield, Madeleine Kan and Annette Chang also had a similar close result in prelims, earning the last spot in the evening session with a 1:35.10, three-hundredths of a second ahead of Johns Hopkins and Chicago, who were left out in 17th. The Athena quartet then moved up two spots to finish in 14th in finals with 1:34.93.

The 400-yard medley relay team capped off the second day of action by coming in 14th place, with Sharma, Mayfield, Sun Young Byun and Kan finishing in 3:49.04, taking second-team All-America honors.

Tomorrow's third day will see the 800-yard freestyle relay team in action in the morning, while Byun will compete in the 200 fly, Kan will race in the 100 back, and Mayfield will swim in the 100 breast.