Badgers bring 14 to USA Swimming National Championships
June 26, 2017 | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving
Runge in search of third consecutive U.S. national team berth
MADISON, Wis. — More than a dozen current and former Badgers are set to compete this week at the 2017 USA Swimming National Championships in Indianapolis.
A total of 14 swimmers with ties to the Wisconsin program are slated to hit the water during the five-day event, which begins Tuesday at IU Natatorium on the IUPUI campus. USA Swimming will use the meet to select national teams for the upcoming FINA World Championships and World University Games, the latter of which includes a men's squads that will be led by UW head coach Whitney Hite.
Sophomore Cierra Runge headlines Wisconsin's entries as a top-four seed in three separate events. In her last appearance at IU Natatorium in March, Runge capped her first collegiate season at UW by earning All-America honors as part of the Badgers' 400-yard freestyle relay ream.
Runge, who set school records in six events during her first Wisconsin campaign, enters the national championships seeded third in both the 200-meter and 400-meter freestyle events. She also holds the No. 4 seed in the 800 free, which will serve as her first race of the meet on Tuesday, and is likely to outperform her No. 27 seed in the 1500 free.
Coming off a win in the 800 free and runner-up finish in the 400 free earlier this month at the Arena Pro Swim Series event in Santa Clara, California, Runge seeks to make a third-consecutive senior national team. She won gold as part of the U.S. entry in in the 800 freestyle relay at the 2016 Olympic Games and 2015 FINA World Championships.
The 200 free is set for Wednesday, the 400 free Friday and the 1500 free Saturday.
Junior Abby Jagdfeld, who holds the No. 16 seed, will join Runge in the 200 free. Freshman Beata Nelson is entered in eight events and owns the No. 16 seed in Saturday's 200-meter individual medley.
Among the men's competitors, former UW swimmer Michael Weiss holds top-10 seeds in the 400 individual medley (seventh) and 200 IM (10th) in addition to owning the No. 11 seed time in the 200 free.
Senior Brett Pinfold enters the meet seeded 14th in the 50 back and 20th in the 200 free, while fellow senior Cannon Clifton carries the 21st seed in the 100 free.
Preliminary rounds are set for 8 a.m. (CT) each day of the meet, with finals getting underway at 5 p.m. A portion of each day's competition will be televised on NBCSN, Universal HD or NBC, with the remainder of each day's schedule streamed live via USASwimming.org.
Badgers at the USA Swimming National Championships
Men
Cannon Clifton: 50 free, 100 free, 200 free, 100 fly
Cooper Hodge: 200 breast, 200 IM
Michael Millinovich: 400 IM
Brett Pinfold: 100 free, 200 free, 50 back, 100 back, 200 IM
Ryan Stack: 200 free
Michael Weiss: 100 free, 200 free, 200 IM, 400 IM
Chris Wills: 200 breast
Women
Marissa Berg: 50 free, 100 free, 50 breast, 100 breast
Maria Carlson: 50 breast, 100 breast, 200 breast
Megan Doty: 50 fly, 100 fly, 200 fly, 200 IM
Abby Jagdfeld: 100 free, 200 free, 400 free
Beata Nelson: 50 free, 100 free, 50 back, 100 back, 200 back, 50 fly, 100 fly, 200 IM
Cierra Runge: 200 free, 400 free, 800 free, 1500 free
Emmy Sehmann: 50 free, 100 free
Players Mentioned
