Molly Gustafson Earns Late Invite To NCAA Championships
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — It initially appeared that Molly Gustafson (West Hartford, Conn./Conard) would come up just short of her goal to compete in the 2011 NCAA Division III Championship meet. As Spring Break began, however, she learned that her status as an alternate had suddenly changed.
Springfield, Ohio — It initially appeared that Wittenberg University women's swimming and diving standout Molly Gustafson, class of 2014 from West Hartford, Conn., would come up just short of her goal to compete in the 2011 NCAA Division III Championship meet. As Spring Break began, however, she learned that her status as an alternate had been upgraded, moving Gustafson into the meet scheduled for March 23-26 at the University of Tennessee.
Gustafson posted NCAA Division III provisional qualifying times in the 100-yard breaststroke with a school record-breaking time of 1:05.30 and in the 200-yard medley relay with Sarah Wilson, class of 2014 from Centennial, Colo., Keaton Hannon, class of 2012 from Peachtree City, Ga., and Ward McNulty, class of 2013 from New Trier, Ill., also in a new school record time. When the psyche sheet was posted for the national championship meet, however, Gustafson was left on the outside looking — barely.
Things changed earlier this week, and Gustafson was a last-second addition to the meet. She will compete in the 100-yard breaststroke, 200-yard breaststroke and 50-yard freestyle events at the NCAA Division III Championships, hosted this year jointly by the College of Wooster and Beloit College in Knoxville, Tenn.
"I am so proud of Molly. She is a true competitor and has come a long way in one season" said Head Coach Natalie Koukis, who guided the Tiger women to a fifth-place finish and the Tiger men to a fourth-place finish in the 2011 North Coast Athletic Conference Championship meet Feb. 10-12 in Canton, Ohio. "After training for weeks while waiting for the psyche sheet to come out, and then getting very disappointing news, it was a joy to get to tell her that she'd earned a spot."
"I am so proud to represent Wittenberg at the NCAA meet," Gustafson said. "I would not have made it this far without the support of my team. They are my family at school, and who knows where I would be without them!"