Heyde Knocks Out First Event at NCAAs
Indianapolis, Ind. – The 2012 NCAA Division III Men's and Women's Swimming & Diving Championships kicked off Wednesday at the Indiana Natatorium and saw St. Mary's College of Maryland junior Kelly Heyde (Wilton, Conn./Wilton) compete in her first of three events.
Heyde started her third consecutive appearance at the NCAA championships by swimming in the 200 individual medley event. She entered the morning's preliminaries seeded 31st in the event with her NCAA provisional time of 2:08.26. Heyde went on to post a 40th-place finish (out of 46 competitors) with her time of in 2:11.50.
The championships will be held March 21-24 at the Indiana Natatorium in Indianapolis. Franklin College and the Indiana Sports Corporation will serve as the hosts.
A total of 521 participants (235 male swimmers and 22 male divers; 242 female swimmers and 22 female divers) are competing in the championships. Student-athletes qualified for the swimming portion of the championships by meeting the established minimum time for the events in which they entered.
Heyde's remaining two events will be competing in the 400 individual medley and the 200 butterfly. She enters NCAA competition seeded 16th in the 400 IM (4:31.79) and 24th in the 200 butterfly (2:07.42).
Her NCAA provisional qualifying times in the 200 butterfly and the 400 individual medley were achieved at the Franklin & Marshall College Invitational on December 3-4.
Heyde competes in the 400 IM on Thursday, March 22 followed by the 200 fly on March 23. Event trials will begin at 10:00 am each day with finals starting at 6:00 pm. Only the top 16 finishers in the morning trials of each event advance to the finals.
She nearly earned All-America status last year as she finished 17th in the 400 individual medley. Heyde has improved her placement in each event in each of her NCAA trips – going from 25th to 17th in the 400 IM and 27th to 22nd in the 200 fly.
