GREENSBORO, N.C. – A trio of individual All-American performances highlighted the opening day of the 2024 NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving National Championships for SCAC Athletes from the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, North Carolina on Wednesday. NCAA Championship Site | Live Results
Austin College’s Sammi Thiele {pictured} made program history, becoming the first ‘Roo swimmer to ever earn NCAA Division III All-America honors following a fourth-place finish in the 200-yard individual medley. Thiele set a new SCAC open record hitting the wall in 2:01.86 to finish fourth. Thiele's fourth-place finish is the highest in SCAC women's swimming & diving history in the 200-IM. In that same event, Trinity’s Neely Burns {pictured} took home sixth to collect her fourth individually All-American honor in her career after finishing with a time of 2:02.20. The sophomore finished seventh in the event last year as a rookie.
Rounding out the individual All-American honors was Trinity first year Amy Benson who earned Honorable Mention accolades finishing 11th in the 50-yard freestyle with a career-best time of 23.27. Benson’s 11th-place finish marks the highest individual finish in the 50-yard freestyle at the National Championship meet since Trinty’s Lindsay Hangmann finished eighth in 2018.
In the relay events, Trinity’s quartet of Audrey Jacobson, Kyla Foxhoven, Caroline Myers and Benson earned Honorable Mention All-American honors in the 200-yard medley relay after finishing 13th with an SCAC open record time of 1:43.50. It marked the first time since 2009 an SCAC relay earned All-American honors in the event and the highest finish since DePauw finished fourth in 2008.
On the men’s side, Trinity seniors Michael Kohl and Nathan Early both competed in the 50-yard freestyle. Kohl finished tied for 21st with a time of 20.37, while Early finished 43rd, hitting the wall in 21.03.
In the team standings following the opening day, the Trinity women currently sit in 10th with 27 total points, while Austin College is 15th with 15 points.
The 2024 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships continue on Thursday with prelims scheduled to start at 10 AM ET and finals set for 6 PM ET. Follow along all of the action at ncaa.com.
