GREENSBORO, N.C. – First-year Neely Burns (Phoenix, Ariz. / Thunderbird) earned All-America honors as the 16th-ranked Trinity women's swimming & diving team opened up its part in the four-day NCAA III Championships event on Wednesday.

Burns competed in the 200 individual medley, while junior Emma Hagan (Overland Park, Kan. / Olathe East) swam the 50 freestyle, and four more Tiger swimmers competed in the 200 medley relay. Sophomore Alexis Radhakrishnan (Lexington, Ky. / Paul Laurence Dunbar) also finished 26th in the women's 3-meter diving competition, following this morning's prelims for swimming.

The 200 medley relay team finished 24th overall and was comprised of first-year Julie Schwam (Portland, Ore. / David Douglas), sophomore Josie Gillentine (Heath, Texas / Rockwall Heath), Caroline Myers (Austin, Texas / Bowie), and first-year Juliana Wiehrdt (Waco, Texas / Midway). The quartet finished in 1:46.28, which is the second-fastest time of the season for Trinity. Hagan was 46th in the 50 free with a time of 24.14 seconds.

Burns was the highlight of the day, beginning with her prelims performance of 2:02.03 in the 200 IM to finish fourth and qualify for tonight's final. She finished seventh in the finals with a time of 2:02.16 to earn All-America honors in her first event at nationals. Her seventh-place finish in the 200 IM is tied for the best in school history for that event, tying with Sarah Scott's seventh-place finish at the 1997 NCAA meet.

Coach Speak
"Neely impressed us all today," admitted Head Coach Cathleen Pruden. "She dropped over a second from her personal and school records in her first ever NCAA swim this morning to qualify for the championship final! Her finals swim was her second best time ever and another super swim! "

Up Next
Day two of the NCAA III Championships will feature Trinity in four of the five swimming events, beginning with the 200 free relay. Hagan Myers, Wiehrdt, and first-year Rachel Brown (Flower Mound, Texas / Marcus) will kick things off for the Tigers on Thursday. The second day of action will be capped off by Schwam, Gillentine, Myers, and Hagan in the 400 medley relay. In between the relays will see a return by Burns in the 400 IM event for which she comes into the weekend ranked fifth nationally. Hagan will also solidify her claim to the busiest day for a Trinity swimmer as she will add the 200 freestyle to her two relay events. Prelims begin at 10:00 a.m. (ET), followed by the finals at 6:00 p.m.