Swim and dive earns top-20 finish at NCAA Championships

Wednesday, March 13

Indianapolis, Ind.

TBA

St. Cloud State

NCAA

3/16/2019 11:15:00 PM | Women's Swim & Dive

INDIANPOLIS, IND. – The St. Cloud State University women's swimming and diving team concluded its 2018-19 season in the best way possible Saturday evening. The Huskies saw more individuals earn All-America and All-America Honorable Mention honors Saturday, as they helped St. Cloud State finish in 20^th place as a team at the NCAA Swimming and Diving National Championships.

Chelsea Gehrke (Farmington, Minn. / Farmington) kicked things off by breaking a school record and earning All-America honors with an eighth place finish in the 100 freestyle. The junior qualified for the "A" finals thanks to her school record time of 50.48 seconds in prelims, earning the eighth spot in the finals race. Gehrke then earned All-America honors, her second of the championships, with an eighth place finish in finals thanks to a time of 50.88.

The Huskies also qualified for finals in the 400 meter freestyle relay, as the team of Gehrke, Jen Thompson (Sartell, Minn. / Sartell), Christina Ware (Ankeny, Iowa / Ankeny Centennial) and Alexis Burroughs (Ladysmith, Wis. / Ladysmith) carded the twelfth fastest time in prelims at 3:25.48. The team would ultimately end in 14^th with a time of 3:25.62.

Briten Thomsen (New Prague, Minn. / New Prague) rounded out the Huskies All-America finishes, as she earned All-America Honorable Mention accolades with a ninth place finish in the women's 3-meter diving event. The senior just missed qualifying for finals with her score of 445.25, but still earned her second All-America award of the week after a top-16 finish in 1-meter.

Jennifer Thompson (Sartell, Minn. / Sartell) was the final individual Husky competing on the final day of the NCAA Championships. Like Gehrke, she competed in the 100m freestyle, putting together a top-40 finish with a time of 51.75.

Thanks to these and several strong performances throughout the week, St. Cloud State women's swimming and diving team finished in 20^th overall with 60 total team points.