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Four Tigers Qualify for 2021 Women’s NCAA Championships

by Tanner Craft | Communications Student Assistant
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Four Tigers Qualify for 2021 Women’s NCAA Championships

BATON ROUGE – LSU swimmers Hannah Bellina, Emilie Boll, Katarina Milutinovich, and Summer Stanfield have all qualified for the 2021 Women’s NCAA Championships based on their performances throughout the season. The Women’s NCAA Championships will begin on March 17 from inside the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, North Carolina.

“I am really excited for these four women to gain this experience this year,” said LSU head swim coach Dave Geyer. “All of them navigated the season really well with some lows and highs in training and performance. To see the work and commitment they put in fall into place is really a testimony to who they are as young women.”

HOW THEY GOT HERE

Bellina used a spectacular freshman campaign to qualify for the Championships in the 200-Yard Butterfly. She swam a personal best time and the third best time in school history, 1:57.18, two weeks ago at the SEC Championships to propel her to a championship opportunity.  

Throughout her freshman campaign, Bellina has lived at the top of the leaderboard all season. In her first career meet against Alabama, she finished in second place in the 200-Yard Butterfly with a time of 2:00.58, third place in the 100-Yard Butterfly with a time of 55.43, and fourth place in the 100-Yard Freestyle with a time of 51.32. At the Art Adamson Invitational, she finished in third place in the 200-Yard IM with a time of 2:00.39, fourth place in the 200-Yard Freestyle with a time of 1:49.30, and fifth place in the 200-Yard Butterfly with a time of 1:59.71. Against Tulane, she won the 200-Yard Butterfly with a time of 2:00.16. Then against Florida State, she finished third in the 100-Yard Butterfly with a time of 55.24 and eighth in the 200-Yard Freestyle with a time of 1:55.01. At a dual meet against Texas A&M, she finished second in the 100-Yard Butterfly with a time of 55.67 then touched the wall third in the 200-Yard Butterfly with a time of 2:00.95.

Boll qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 100-Yard Breaststroke. At the 2020 SEC Championships, Boll finished in 10th place in the ‘B’ Final of the 100-Yard Breaststroke. She became the fifth Tiger swimmer to swim the 100-Yard Breaststroke in under a minute to earn her an NCAA berth.

In her first meet as a Tiger against Alabama, she brought home a victory in the 100-Yard Breaststroke with a time of 1:01.74. At the Art Adamson Invitational, she won the 100-Yard Breaststroke with a time of 1:00.57; the eighth best time in LSU history at the time, fourth place in the 200-Yard Breaststroke with a time of 2:18.24, and 29th place in the 50-Yard Freestyle with a time of 28.21. Against Tulane, she finished third overall in the 100-Yard Breaststroke with a time of 1:03.79 and finished sixth in the 200-Yard Breaststroke with a time of 2:25.42. In a dual meet against Florida State University, she won the 100-Yard Breaststroke with a time of 1:02.18 and finished second in the 200-Yard Breaststroke with a time of 2:18.12. Against Texas A&M, she won the 100-Yard Breaststroke with a time of 1:02.27 and came third in the 200-Yard Breaststroke with a time of 2:20.45.

Milutinovich qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 200-Yard Freestyle. She also earned a ‘B’ Cut in the 50 and the 100-Yard Freestyle. At the SEC Championships, Milutinovich finished in 16th place in the ‘B’ Final of the 200-Yard Freestyle  with a time of 1:47.05. She swam a season’s best time in the 200-Yard Freestyle while swimming the first leg of the 800-Yard Freestyle at the SEC Championships. She swam the leg in 1:45.92.

Milutinovich had a great start to the season against Alabama. She finished in second place in the 200-Yard Freestyle with a time of 1:48.73, and third in the 50 and 100-Yard Freestyle with times of 23.28 and 50.51. At the Art Adamson Invitational, she notched three second place finishes in the 50, 100, and 200-Yard Freestyle with times of 22.76, 49.38, and 1:47.47, and finished in fourth place in the 100-Yard Backstroke with a time of 54.48. Against Tulane, she won the 100-Yard Freestyle with a time of 50.79 and touched the wall second in the 100-Yard Backstroke with a time of 55.49. Against Florida State, she won both the 100-Yard Freestyle and the 200-Yard Freestyle with times of 49.45 and 1:47.27. Against Texas A&M she finished second in the 50-Yard Freestyle with a time of 23.07 and second again in the 100-Yard Freestyle with a time of 50.93.

Stanfield qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 200-Yard Backstroke and earned ‘B’ Cuts in the 200-Yard IM and the 200-Yard Butterfly. At the SEC Championships, she swam a personal best time and the third fastest time in school history, 1:55.05, to earn her an NCAA invite. 

Against Alabama to start the season, she finished in second place in the 200-Yard IM and the 500-Yard Freestyle with times of 2:03.65 and 4:57.13, and third place in the 200-Yard Freestyle with a time of 1:50.82. At the Art Adamson Invitational, she swam the then fourth fastest 200-Yard Backstroke in school history in route to claiming the victory, finished in second place in the 200-Yard IM after swimming the ninth fastest time in LSU history, a 1:58.93, in the prelims, and finished in third place in the 200-Yard Freestyle with a time of 1:47.52, the then ninth fastest time in school history. Against Tulane, she won the 200-Yard Freestyle with a time of 1:48.74 and won the 200-Yard Backstroke with a time of 1:57.78. Against Florida State, she won the 200-Yard Butterfly in a time of 1:59.66, the 200-Yard IM with a time of 2:02.67 and touched third overall in the 200-Yard Backstroke with a time of 2:00.20. Against Texas A&M she finished second in the 200-Yard IM with a time of 2:05.57, touched the wall fourth in the 200-Yard Backstroke with a time of 2:01.70 and finished fourth overall in the 200-Yard Freestyle with a time of 1:52.45.

MORE INFORMATION

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