Program-Record Nine @MizzouSwimDive Swimmers Earn Invites to Women's NCAA Championships
3/1/2017 4:12:00 PM | Women's Swimming and Diving
Nine female swimmers earned bids to the 2017 NCAA Championships
COLUMBIA, Mo. – A program-record nine members of the Mizzou women's swimming team earned invitations to the 2017 NCAA Division I Women's Swimming and Diving Championships, the NCAA announced on Wednesday. The nine individual swimming selections are a women's program best, bettering the old high of seven set last season, and are tied for third-most among Southeastern Conference programs.
Seniors Nadine Laemmler (Wackersdorf, Bavaria, Germany), Katharine Ross (Des Moines, Iowa) and Ellie Suek (Eden Prairie, Minnesota), juniors Sharli Brady (Burlington, Kentucky), Erin Metzger-Seymour (Westminster, Colorado), Hannah Stevens (Lexington, Ohio) and Kira Zubar (Chaska, Minnesota) and freshmen Haley Hynes (Lee's Summit, Missouri) and Jennifer King (Glasgow, Scotland) will represent the Tigers at the Championships, March 15-18, at the IUPIU Natatorium in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Missouri is also eligible to swim all five relays: the 200 free relay, 400 free relay, 800 free relay, 200 medley relay and 400 medley relay. The Tigers' relay-only swimmers will be announced at a later date.
Mizzou's divers will vie for NCAA Championship bids next week at the NCAA Zone D Diving Championships, March 6-8, at the Tigers' home Mizzou Aquatics Center.
Ross made it a perfect four-for-four in Championship invitations after bids in two events, the 100 breast and 200 breast. She enters the meet ranked 15th in the 100 breast, an event she earned All-America first team honors as a sophomore after placing fourth overall. In addition to the breaststroke events, Ross is eligible to swim the 200 IM as well.
Earning her third NCAA Championships berth is Laemmler, who represented Mizzou at the meet last season and Western Kentucky as a sophomore in 2015. The senior enters the NCAA Championships seeded 19th in the 100 back and 21st in the 200 back. Laemmler earned first team All-America honors in the 100 back last season to go along with honorable mention accolades in the 200 back. At the 2017 SEC Championships, she finished fifth in the 200 back and ninth in the 100 back.
Stevens, earning her third berth in as many seasons, enters the NCAA Championships seeded seventh in the 100 back and 12th in the 200 back. She is a two-time honorable mention All-American in the 100 back with finishes of 14th as both a freshman and sophomore. Stevens was the 2017 SEC 100 back runner-up and took third in the 200 back. She is also eligible to swim the 50 free at the Championships.
Brady claimed her third-straight Championships berth with invites in the 400 IM, 200 IM and 200 fly, where she is seeded 12th, 26th and 33rd, respectively. A three-time honorable mention All-American, Brady placed 13th in the 200 fly as sophomore and 12th in the 400 IM and 13th in the 200 fly at the meet as a freshman. At the recent SEC Championships, Brady claimed fifth in the 200 fly and eighth in the 400 IM.
Zubar will make her second individual appearance at the NCAA Championships after qualifying in both the 500and 1650 free. The junior is the 18th seed in the 1650 free and the 29th seed in the 500 free, events she finished fifth and sixth, respectively, at the recent SEC Championships. Zubar can also swim the 200 free at NCAAs.
Suek claimed her first NCAA invite in the 400 IM in her final collegiate season. She enters the meet as the 37th seed in the event after placing 13th in the 400 IM at the SEC Championships in February. Suek can also swim the 200 IM and 200 breast at the meet.
Also earning her first Championships berth is Metzger-Seymour, who earned an invite in the 100 fly. The junior, who placed 12th in the event at SECs, is also eligible to swim the 100 and 200 free at the Championships.
Mizzou will be well represented in the backstroke events, as freshmen Hynes and King join Laemmler and Stevens with bids in the stroke.
Hynes punched her NCAA bid in the 100 back, where she enters the meet as the 19th seed in the event. Also eligible to swim the 50 and 100 free, the freshman took ninth in the 100 back and 18th in the 50 free at the 2017 SEC Championships.
King, who claimed an invite in the 200 back, rounds out Missouri's backstroke group. She enters the meet 30th in the 200 back, an event placed 10th in at the SEC Championships. King can also compete in the 100 back and 400 IM at the meet.
Players Mentioned
