Swimmer finishes 12th, 14th in first ever trip to national champinonship
Case Western Reserve University junior captain Maggie Dillione returned from the 2013 NCAA Division III Championship a two-time All-American after a pair of top-16 finishes.
The meet was held at the Conroe ISD Natatorium in Shenandoah, Texas.
Dillione picked up a 12th-place finish in her flagship event, the 200-yard butterfly, and a 14th-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly. Her two finishes earned her honorable mention All-American status in both events for finishing in the 9-16th place range. In the 200-yard butterfly she opened in the preliminary heat with a time of 2:04.25 and swam a time of 2:04.73 in the finals. She swam a time of 56.74 seconds in the 100-yard butterfly finals and a time of 56.26 seconds in the preliminary heat.
Dillione entered the meet seeded fourth in the 200-yard butterfly and finished ninth in the preliminary heats. Dillione was seeded 14th in the 100-yard butterfly and finished in that position in both of the preliminary and final heats.
Senior Hannah Saiz of Kenyon College won the 200-yard butterfly. Saiz swam a 1:57.42 championship final to win by over four-seconds after a time of 1:55.98 in the preliminary heat. Kirsten Nitz of Wheaton College scored the upset of Saiz in the final of the 100-yard butterfly, bouncing back from a time of 54.07 seconds in the qualifying races to win the national championship in 53.08 seconds. Saiz was second in 53.20 seconds.
Dillione also swam the 50-yard freestyle as a warm-up event on Wednesday, Mar. 20. She finished 44th in the nation with a time of 24.58 seconds in the race.
Dillione is first All-American in program history since Lauren Preyss in 2007.
The trip was the third-year swimmers first to the NCAA Championship as Dillione looks to gear up for her final season next year as a Spartan.