2021-22 NCAA DII Women's Swimming and Diving Championship Psych Sheet
For the first time in three years, the Hillsdale College women's swimming and diving program will be represented on the national stage.
On Wednesday evening, the NCAA announced its list of qualifiers for the 2022 NCAA Division II Women's Swimming and Diving Championships, scheduled to take place on March 9-12 at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Among the qualifiers was Hillsdale freshman Elise Mason, who is the 22nd seed nationally in the 1,650 yard freestyle with a B-cut time of 17:11.51 that she swam to win the G-MAC Championship in the event this past weekend.
Mason is the first Charger swimmer to qualify for the NCAA DII Championships since Anika Ellingson became Hillsdale's most recent All-American in 2019. The freshman from Zeeland, Michigan and graduate of Libertas Christian in Hudsonville has had a season to remember to start her collegiate career, sweeping the distance events at the G-MAC Championships on Feb. 16-19 to win three conference titles for the Chargers in her first season.
It's an impressive performance for a swimmer who joined Hillsdale's 2021-22 recruiting class late in the summer, after spending her high school career competing for Michigan Lakeshore Aquatics, based out of the Holland Aquatic Center in Holland, Michigan. Just over six months later, Mason already has a case for being the most accomplished distance swimmer ever at Hillsdale College with three years of eligibility left, setting new school records in the 500 freestyle (5:01.19) and the 1,650 freestyle (17:11.51) while swimming the third-fastest time in program history in the 1,000 freestyle (10:21.74) as well.
Mason is the first swimmer in Hillsdale history to qualify for the NCAA Division II Championship meet in the 1,650 freestyle, the longest event contested in NCAA competition, and in March she will have a chance to become just the fifth swimmer in program history to earn NCAA Division II All-American honors with a top 16 finish.
The freshman also will get a chance to compete in the 500 and 1,000 freestyle events as well at the national meet. Although she wasn't among the qualifiers in those events, her qualification in the 1,650 and B-cut times in both the 500 and 1,000 mean she'll be eligible to compete in both events as well.
Photo Courtesy of Andy Smith/Malone Athletics