March 4, 2015
Indianapolis, Ind.----- San Jose State University's Morgan McCormick will be the first freshman in school history to compete in an NCAA Division I Women's Swimming and Diving Championship when she represents the Spartans March 19-21, at the Greensboro (N.C.) Aquatic Center.
The first-year swimmer from Golden, Colo. (Arvada West HS) qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 200 backstroke with her school and Mountain West record-setting time of 1:54.13 winning the conference championship in San Antonio, Texas on February 21.
McCORMICK'S REACTION TO THE SELECTION
"I'm so excited to go. I'm really blessed. I can't wait," says McCormick, who last competed nationally in the 2014 Speedo Junior National Long Course Championships in Irvine, Calif. She finished ninth in the 200 backstroke and 16th in the 100 backstroke. "It was a goal at the beginning of the season, but then as the season went on I said, `Maybe not my freshman season. We'll see how it goes at conference. I'm just going to go in - no goals; no times.' It just happened.''
McCormick will be entered in three events at the NCAA Championships. Besides the 200 backstroke, she will compete in the 100 backstroke and 200 individual medley as a result of posting an NCAA Championships "B" cut mark during the season. At the Mountain West Championships, McCormick swam a school record time of 2:00.41 in a 200 individual medley preliminary heat and a 54.42 in her fourth-place finish in the 100 backstroke for her "B" cut times.
"Making NCAA's is a tremendous accomplishment for any Division I student-athlete. For Morgan to have qualified in three events her freshman year is tremendous. It says a lot about her talent and drive, and a lot about the strength of our team. We have a tremendous group of student-athletes that I am blessed to be able to work with, and Morgan's accomplishments are a resounding reflection upon each member of this program," says San Jose State women's swimming and diving head coach Sage Hopkins.
McCormick will compete in the 200 individual medley on March 19, the 100 backstroke on March 20, and the 200 backstroke on March 21.
"Our primary goal is to establish a regular presence at the NCAA Championships. We have several student-athletes in this program that can be impactful at the national level and Morgan can be a uniting force in those efforts," Hopkins added. In 2012, sprint freestyle specialist Marisa DeWames was the last San Jose State competitor at an NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championship.