Clifford placed 13th, qualifying her for All-American honors. Courtesy | Hillsdale College Atheltic Department
Junior Megan Clifford earned all-American honors at last week’s NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving championship meet in Geneva, Ohio, making her one of only three Charger swimmers to earn it in two separate seasons. Fellow junior Elise Mason also competed at the championship meet for the third year running.
“I was very proud of their performances and accomplishments,” head coach Kurt Kirner said. “It cannot be understated that all performances by both athletes were season best times and all their placings were up from where they were seeded into the meet. The meet was faster than last year and it took great times to make all-American honors.”
The NCAA awards all-American honors to swimmers who finish within the top 16 at the national championship meet. This year, the meet ran from March 12-16 at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio. Clifford placed 13th in the 200 yard butterfly this year after placing seventh last year in a race that Kirner told The Collegian last year was one of the best swims from one of his athletes in 32 years of college coaching.
Going into the meet this year, Clifford was seeded 19th in the 200 yard butterfly. During prelims in the morning on Friday, she swam a 2:03.13 and improved to 16th place, clinching a spot in the final. That evening, she improved her time to 2:02.27 and her standing to 13th overall.
“I was very excited about this race and had a lot of fun meeting people from other teams,” Clifford said. “It’s also very cool to swim in finals because you can score points for your team and the arena always gets very packed and excited for the finals session.”
Mason was just shy of all-American honors in the 1,650 yard freestyle with a 17th place finish and a time of 17:06.51 — an improvement of five places from her original 22nd place seed. In the 1,000 and 500 yard freestyle races, she broke Hillsdale’s school records — which she herself had set in earlier competitions.
“The energy at nationals really helps to get you excited to be there,” Mason said. “It was definitely hard to continue training straight away after our conference meet, but it really was worth it to have been able to go to nationals and have another opportunity to race.”
Clifford said the meet was a great experience, especially since she wasn’t sure she would qualify.
“I am very grateful I had an opportunity to go,” she said. “I had a lot of fun watching Elise swim her events, she did a great job and had worked hard the whole season. It was also fun to get to know my coaches better and see my friends from other teams. Overall I had a blast.”
Both athletes are juniors and have just one season left of collegiate swimming. Kirner said the successes Clifford and Mason had at this meet and throughout the season is great for the whole team.
“These performances help set the standard for things to come,” he said. “With Megan and Elise leading practices day in, day out striving for even better times, our whole team benefits as we move into their senior years.”
Mason said she has ambitious goals for her senior season.
“It is sad to think that there is only one year left with this team but I am excited for it,” she said. “My goal for next year is to make it back to nationals one last time. I also would like to make top 8 in the 1650. That might be too big of a goal to reach for, but we’ll see what happens. No matter what though, it is going to be so fun having another year with this team.”
Clifford also said she is looking forward to her last season.
“My biggest goal is to have fun with my teammates. Everyone always says that when you look back on your time as a college swimmer, you will remember the memories you made, not necessarily the times you went,” Clifford said. “Although I am proud of my accomplishments, I cherish my time with my teammates more than anything.”
