19 Swimmers Headed to Nationals

(INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.) – Ten Carnegie Mellon University men's swimmers have earned the right to compete at the 2020 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. The ten men invited to the championships is the most for the Tartan men under 13-year head coach Matthew Kinney. The championships will be hosted by the Old Dominion Athletic Conference and the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, North Carolina, on March 18-21.

Four freshmen, three sophomores, two juniors and one senior make up the list of invited men for Carnegie Mellon. Junior Justin Britton (Falls Church, Va. / George Mason) will be making his second appearance as an individual and a relay participant. Also going to nationals for the second straight year is senior Sam Hawke (Malvern, Pa. / Episcopal Academy), junior Max Gonzalez (Allison Park, Pa. / North Allegheny), sophomore Richard Dauksher (Fort Collins, Colo. / Fossil Ridge) and sophomore Colin Daniel (Westfield, N.J. / Westfield), all as part of a relay.

Britton was invited to the meet in the 100-yard backstroke, 200-yard backstroke, 100-yard butterfly, 200-yard freestyle relay, 400-yard freestyle relay and 400-yard medley relay. His top time this season in the 100-yard backstroke is fourth nationally while his 100-yard butterfly is seventh and his 200-yard backstroke time is 16th. The junior earned points at last year's championship by finishing in the top 16 in the 100-yard backstroke, 200-yard backstroke and 400-yard medley relay. This will be his first time swimming the 100-yard butterfly at the event.

Hawke was part of four relays making the invite list, joining Britton on three and adding the 800-yard freestyle relay. Last year, Hawke helped the Tartans earn All-America Honorable Mention with top 16 performances in the 400-yard medley relay and the 800-yard freestyle relay. Gonzalez's return trip also includes the 800-yard freestyle relay while Daniel will be on the 400-yard medley relay for the second consecutive year.

Dauksher will also swim in the 800-yard freestyle relay for the second year and compete individually in the 1,650-yard freestyle, 400-yard IM and 500-yard freestyle by virtue of achieving B cuts during the season. His times rank him 19th, 21st and 28th, respectively. Last year, Dauksher earned All-America Honorable Mention in the 1,650-yard freestyle and 400-yard IM.

Like Dauksher, Daniel will swim three individual events after achieving B cuts this season. Daniel will make his first individual appearance at the meet by swimming the 100-yard breaststroke, 200-yard butterfly and 200-yard breaststroke. His times seed him 24th, 25th and 31st, respectively.

Freshman John McNab (Westport, Conn. / Staples) is another individual qualifier in three events while he's also part of the 800-yard freestyle relay. McNab is seeded eighth in the 500-yard freestyle, 10th in the 1,650-yard freestyle and 16th in the 200-yard freestyle. Sophomore Sean Ream (Canton, Ohio / Jackson) is part of the 400-yard medley relay and will also swim the 200-yard butterfly where he's ranked 20th.

Freshman Matthew Nagler (West Chicago, Ill. / St. Charles East), Yousef Hassen (Redlands, Calif. / Redlands) and Erik Feldmann (Yakima, Wash. / West Valley) are all part of relays looking to add to CMU's history. Nagler will compete on both the 200-yard freestyle relay and 400-yard freestyle relay while Hassen is on the 400-yard freestyle relay and Feldmann the 200-yard freestyle relay. Neither relay has earned a top 16 finish since 2005; however, the Tartans are currently seeded 10th in the 200 event and 12th in the 400 event.

The 800-yard freestyle relay is seeded 10th while the 400-yard medley is 14th. The Tartans will also field a 200-yard medley relay as the season's best time is 18th nationally.

WOMEN

Nine Carnegie Mellon University women's swimmers have earned the right to compete at the 2020 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. The nine women invited to the championships is the second most for the Tartan women under 13-year head coach Matthew Kinney. The championships will be hosted by the Old Dominion Athletic Conference and the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, North Carolina, on March 18-21.

Four freshmen, one sophomore, one junior and three seniors make up the list of invited women for Carnegie Mellon. Senior Emma Nicklas-Morris (Winston-Salem, N.C. / RJ Reynolds) will be making her fourth appearance while senior Mary Day (Warren, N.J. / Mount Saint Mary Academy) and junior Emma Graham (Mount Lebanon, Pa. / Mount Lebanon) are making their second.

Nicklas-Morris will be swimming the 200-yard IM, 400-yard IM and 200-yard butterfly. Her top time this season in the 200-yard IM is 12th in the nation while her 200-yard butterfly time is 15th and her 400-yard IM time is 19th. The senior earned points at past NCAA Championships by finishing in the top 16 in all three events as a sophomore and junior while she finished inside the top eight in both IM races as a freshman.

Like she did in 2018, Day was invited to the meet as part of the 400-yard freestyle relay. Graham competed on the 800-yard freestyle relay in 2018 and is part of the 200-yard freestyle relay invited to this year's championship meet. Both relays have set school records this year and are both currently 17th in the nation. Joining Day on the 400-yard freestyle relay is freshman Clare Brown (Grantham, N.J. / Lebanon), freshman Mathea Myhrvold (Raleigh, N.C. / Wakefield), and freshman Tiffany Tseng (Westford, Mass. / Westford Academy). The 200-yard freestyle relay will comprise of Graham, sophomore Madeline Hoedemaker (Pennington, N.J. / Hopewell Valley Central), Myhrvold, and Tseng.

By virtue of achieving B cuts during the season, the Tartans will also field a relay team in the 400-yard medley relay, currently 20th, and the 800-yard freestyle relay, currently 23rd best.

Tseng was also invited to the meet in the 200-yard backstroke where her time is 18th in the nation. The freshman will also swim the 100-yard backstroke after achieving a B cut time ranked 28th during the season. Fellow freshman Bonnie Wang (Vancouver, BC / Collingwood School) was also invited in the 200-yard backstroke where her time is 10th nationally. She'll also compete in the 100-yard backstroke after achieving a B cut time ranked 24th.

Senior Taylor Brown (San Antonio, Texas / Johnson) individually qualified for the 1,650-yard freestyle with a school record time that is 20th in the nation. Brown will join Nicklas-Morris in the 400-yard IM after achieving a B cut time that is currently 24th amongst swimmers at the meet.