Williams, Ngo and Presti place individually; 800 free relays earn points for CMS
SHENANDOAH, Texas – Clutch performances on the third day of the Division III NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships earned points for both the men's and women's teams for Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. The Athenas are in 19th place at 36 points while the Stags sit in 14th with 57 points.
Senior Matthew Williams (CMC) earned hardware for the second consecutive day for an individual event. The defending national champion in the 100-yard backstroke placed second this year, improving on his time from the prelims by almost a second to finish at 47.90.
On the women's side, senior Kelly Ngo (CMC) also qualified for the finals in the 100 back. Her prelims time of 55.84 was just 0.18 seconds off her personal best from 2015. In the consolation finals, Ngo finished in 14th at 56.26. Teammate Jocelyn Crawford (CMC) also competed in the prelims recording a time of 56.40.
Both the men's and women's 800-yard freestyle relay teams earned points. The women's quartet of Ngo, Stephanie Doi (CMC), Crawford, and Elizabeth Carrade (CMC) went 7:46.55 to finish in 16th. The men's team of Williams, Ben Culberson (CMC), Graham Spurzem (CMC), and Jackson Crewe (HMC) set a new CMS and SCIAC record at 6:40.17. This beats the previous CMS record by just over one second.
Junior Maia Presti (SC) improved upon her 13th place from 2015 on the 1-meter diving board to finish in 10th in 2016 with a score of 406.70.
Lastly, freshman Claire Bacon-Brenes (SC) just missed the cut in the prelims for the 100-yard breaststroke placing 22nd at 1:04.34.
After having successfully scored in four events in this year's NCAA Championship (200-yard medley relay, 400-yard medley relay, 100 back, 800 free relay), Ngo has earned All-American or Honorable All-American honors 15 times in her career. This feat ties her for third in Athena history.
Tomorrow, the final day of the championships, brings the 1650-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard backstroke, 200-yard breaststroke, 400-yard freestyle relay and the men's 3-meter diving.
By Emily Nordhoff
Sports Information Director
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