Both of the Hillsdale College women's swimming and diving team's national meet qualifiers had excellent days on Friday at the 2024 NCAA DII Championships at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio, as both Megan Clifford and Elise Mason had noteworthy performances.
Clifford, a junior, earned repeat All-American honors in 200 yd butterfly, earning the last of 16 qualifying spots for the finals in the morning prelims with a time of 2:03.13, then moving up three spots in the final standings to place 13th in the nation with a time of 2:02.27. That earned Clifford honorable mention All-American honors, to go with the first-team honors she earned in the 200 fly by placing seventh in 2023. In doing so, Clifford joined Rachael Kurtz, who was All-American in the 50 freestyle in both 2014 and 2015, as the only two Hillsdale College swimmers to earn All-American honors in consecutive seasons.
Mason, meanwhile, followed up a school-record setting performance in the 1,000 freestyle on Wednesday night with another school record in the 500 freestyle on Friday night, finishing 36th in the nation with a time of 5:00.78. That broke the Hillsdale record Mason herself set in 2022 of 5:01.19. The junior entered the competition seeded 51st in the nation and moved up 15 spots in the final standings, her best-ever finish in three times competing at the event at the NCAA DII Championships.
Hillsdale finishes the 2024 NCAA DII Championships on Saturday, as Mason will go for repeat All-American honors in her best event, the 1,650 freestyle. The event will be contested at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning.
Photo Courtesy of Findlay Athletics