March 15, 2012
AUBURN, Ala. – Notre Dame freshman Emma Reaney earned Honorable Mention All-America honors in the 200 IM on day one of the NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships on Thursday at James E. Martin Aquatics Center on the campus of Auburn University.
The Lawrence, Kan., native placed ninth overall and first in the “B” final on Thursday night in a new school-record time of 1:55.67, lowering the mark from her prelim swim. Reaney scored nine points for the Irish and would have finished seventh in the “A” final if she had swum in it.
Earlier in the day Reaney qualified ninth in the morning prelims session, just one spot out of All-America accolades, in a new school-record time of 1:56.09. The time lowered her own school record from 1:56.42, which she set at the BIG EAST Championships.
Reaney, who came into the event seeded 10th, improved by one slot in the morning session, finishing just .16 out of eighth place and an automatic All-America scroll. She becomes the first Irish swimmer to earn HM All-America honors since Samantha Maxwell in 2010 and the first Irish freshman to earn those accolades since Katie Carroll in 2004.
This season Reaney has lowered the Irish 200 IM record from 2:00.09 to 1:55.67.
Elsewhere on day one, junior Jenny Chiang just missed out on qualifying for the finals in the 1-meter dive by two points as she scored 289.50 points to finish 17th. The top 16 advanced to Thursday night’s finals. It was the highest finish for an Irish diver since 2005, when Meghan Perry-Eaton finished fifth in the 1-meter dive.
Tomorrow’s action will see Reaney swim the 100 breast, Chiang compete in the 3-meter dive and sophomore Kelly Ryan swim in the 100 back.
Links for video and live results can be found here.
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