Hillsdale College sophomore Megan Clifford entered the first NCAA DII Women's Swimming and Diving Championships of her collegiate career in a good position to contend for All-American honors.
And Clifford made the most of it on Friday night in Indianapolis, using a record-setting time in the 200 yard butterfly prelims to earn a top eight finish and taking seventh in the finals to become just the fifth NCAA DII All-American in program history and the first since 2019.
Seeded 16th entering the meet, Clifford put together the best swim of her career in the morning prelim race, swimming more than a full second faster than her seed time and breaking G-MAC and Hillsdale records with a time of 2:01.27 to finish eighth and guarantee a spot in the fast heat of the final.
In the nighttime race, Clifford did one better than her morning performance, beating out Cheyenne Denison of Oklahoma Christian to finish seventh in the event in 2:01.81.
Clifford's finish is one of the best in program history, earning her first-team All-American honors. She joins 2011 All-American Linda Okonkowski as the only Chargers to become All-Americans in the butterfly, and broke Okonkowski's Hillsdale College record in the 200 butterfly on the way to the title.
Another of Hillsdale's strong sophomore class, Elise Mason, also competed on Friday, taking 42nd in the 500 freestyle in 5:03.82. Mason also competed in the 1,000 freestyle on Wednesday, placing 30th, and still has her best event yet to come on Saturday, the 1,650 freestyle. Mason is seeded 25th in the mile race, and will look to join her teammate in earning All-American honors with a strong performance on Saturday night.
Photo Courtesy of the NCAA