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Samantha Sheridan from Billings, Montana has announced her commitment to continue her academic and athletic careers at Northern Arizona University beginning in the 2022-2023 school year.
Sheridan swims for Billings Aquatic Club out of Billings, MT. This past March, she set numerous best times at Phoenix Sectionals. Those best times included the 200 (1:59.47), 500 (5:11.26), and 1000 (10:34.95) freestyles. Those best times also earned her a fifth-place finish in the 1000 freestyle, seventh in the 500 freestyle, and 24th in the 200 freestyle. She also earned a sixth place finish in the 1650 freestyle with a time of 17:45.28. That time was just off of her best (17:43.60) which is from October of 2020.
She continued her success in the distance freestyle events into long course season over the summer. She competed at Futures in West Fargo where she achieved best times in the 400 (4:32.45), 800 (9:18.01), and 1500 (17:30.27) as well as the 400 IM (5:24.08). Those times earned her a ninth place finish in the 1500, an 18th place finish in the 800 (her best time was achieved during a time trial, she swam a time of 9:19.30 in the real event), and a 30th place finish in the 400 freestyle. In September, she traveled to the Western Zone Open Water Championships where she placed eighth overall in the 5k.
Her Billings Aquatic Club head coach Sean Marshall spoke of her saying, “Samantha has had a massive development curve the past 3 years as she has went from a Montana State Qualifier to a Futures Finalist and just 5 seconds off of a Junior National cut in her Mile (17:30 LCM), she has been awarded our Hardest Worker Award for the past 5 years straight and her times and strong development have clearly shown that her hard work is paying off, we are very proud of what she accomplished and look forward to watching her continue to have success in the future as a Lumberjack!”
She has progressed immensly in the distance events over the last few years. See her progression below:
| 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |
| 400 FR LCM | 05:20.31 | 04:51.22 | N/A | 04:32.45 |
| 800 FR LCM | 10:54.25 | 09:51.25 | N/A | 09:18.01 |
| 1500 FR LCM | 21:46.73 | 18:42.32 | N/A | 17:30.27 |
| 500 FR SCY | 5:43.98 | 5:24.31 | 5:21.72 | 5:11.26 |
| 1000 FR SCY | 11:43.00 | 10:59.90 | 10:40.45 | 10:34.95 |
| 1650 FR SCY | 20:00.75 | 18:16.07 | 17:43.60 | 17:45.28 |
Sheridan began her senior year this fall at Billings West High School.
Her best short course yards times are:
- 200 freestyle: 1:59.47
- 500 freestyle: 5:11.26
- 1000 freestyle: 10:34.95
- 1650 freestyle: 17:43.60
Northern Arizona University is a public university located in Flagstaff, Arizona. The school is a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). The team captured the conference title at the 2021 WAC Championships.
Based on her best times, Sheridan has the potential to make an immediate impact for NAU. Her best time would place her in the top 16 of the 1650 freestyle. She is just off the top 16 in the 500 freestyle as it took 5:07.87 to make it back in the scoring ‘B’ final.
Sheridan will arrive on campus next fall as a member of the class of 2026 along with Nicole Kepl, Gracie Munk, Remi Wallace, and Cydnie Perkins.
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