Ellsworth’s Talor Hamilton will race in the NCAA Division ll Swimming and Diving Championship March 14-17 at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro Aquatic Center.
The sophomore, one of 10 swimmers representing Florida Southern at the competition, will race in the 50-yard freestyle. Hamilton is seeded at 20.18 seconds, more than a second off the pace of the top seed (20.17).
In Division lll, the swimming and diving seedings have been announced for the NCAA national championship meet scheduled for March 21-24 in Indianapolis. Emma Waddell of Williams College and Lydia DaCorte of Wheaton College are seeded in multiple events.
Waddell, a Bangor High School graduate, is seeded first in the 50 free at 22.9 and in the 100 butterfly with a 53.7. She won both events at last year’s NCAA championship. In the 100 freestyle, she is seeded fifth at 50.4 seconds.
DaCorte, like Waddell, is seeded in three individual events. The freshman, who competed for Mount Desert Island High School in Bar Harbor, holds the sixth seed in the 500 free (4:55.1), 13th in the 1,650 free (17:06.9) and 14th in the 200 free (1:51.1).
Michael O’Donovan, the 2016 Class A state champion for Cheverus High of Portland in the 200 free and 500 free, won the 500 free (4:28.4) at the recent Metro Athletic Atlantic Conference Championship. The Marist College sophomore scored in the finals of the 200 free at 1:40.4. Marist placed second at the championship behind Rider University.
All-America candidates
Colby Prouty’s state- and meet-record time of 56.17 in 100-yard breaststroke at the 2018 Class A state championship is significantly under the consideration standard (57.27) for National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association All American recognition. It was only slightly off the automatic standard of 56. The Bangor High senior also won the 200 individual medley in a Class A meet record time of 1:52.7.
Rams head coach David Barnett noted, “I can’t remember a time when a swimmer dominated a state meet in the way that Colby did.”
As reported earlier this season, Prouty will continue his swimming career at the University of Connecticut.
According to NISCA Zone 1 director Philip Emery, the 2018 All-America roster will be released early next summer. Schools and coaches who are members of NISCA have immediate access to the All-America application. An application fee is required for each application submitted by a nonmember.
The NISCA also recognizes swimmers and divers who qualify for Academic All-American status. An application must be submitted for each eligible swimmer and diver, Emery said.
Maine swimmers whose Maine Principals’ Association state championship performances satisfy NISCA time standards for automatic recognition include junior Olivia Tighe of Cape Elizabeth in the 100 free at 50.23, faster than the qualifying time of 50.41, and sophomore Olivia Harper of Morse High in Belfast in the 100 backstroke (54.64), which also exceeds the automatic standard of 55.05.
Cony of Augusta junior Gabby Lowe’s 56.28 in the 100 backstroke slips under the consideration standard of 56.30, and her 55.38 in the 100 butterfly is under the consideration standard of 55.75. Automatic recognition in the backstroke is 55.05, and the butterfly is 54.8.
Tighe and Cape Elizabeth 200 free relay members Caroline Mahoney, Hope Campbell and Alicia Lawrence swam a 1:36.20 at the Class B state meet and meet the consideration cut of 1:37.32.
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