Coming off of a historic performance at the 2014 ACC Swimming and Diving Championship, the Duke women had two swimmers receive invitations to compete in individual events at the 2014 NCAA Championship, scheduled for March 20-22 at the University of Minnesota Aquatics Center in Minneapolis, Minn.
Seniors Lauren Weaver and Christine Wixted will make their second career appearances at the NCAA Championship after both were invited to the championship meet in Indianapolis, Ind., last season. The Blue Devils will also send four more swimmers to Minneapolis to swim and serve as alternates on the 200-yard medley relay, which garnered automatic qualification to NCAAs with a 1:37.91 clocking at the ACC Championship.
Weaver was invited to compete in the 50 freestyle for the second consecutive year. The Cincinnati, Ohio native broke her own school record in the event at the conference championship, tapping the wall at 22.19. Wixted qualified in the 100 and 200 breaststroke, posting times of 1:00.01 and 2:10.10 in the events during the fall at the Nike Cup Invitational. A four-time All-ACC performer, Wixted was fourth this year in both breaststroke events at the ACC Championship.
Freshmen Jessie Sutherland and Maddie Rusch joined Weaver and Wixted in helping Duke qualify the 200 medley relay, the first in program history to advance to the NCAA Championship. Sophomores Kathryn Eckhart and Chelsea Ye will serve as alternates for the event.
The Blue Devil swimmers may also compete in other events at NCAAs in which they have achieved provisionally-qualifying times.
A total of 281 swimmers from 70 different schools qualified for the 2014 NCAA Championship.
Duke’s divers will try to gain qualification to the NCAA Championships when they travel to the NCAA Zone B Diving Championships March 10-12 at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, N.C.
This release was provided to SwimSwam courtesy of Duke Swimming and Diving.
