SAN DIEGO – San Diego State swimmers Christiana Williams, Kristina Murphy and Alex Roberts have qualified for the 2023 NCAA Championships, set for March 15-18 in Knoxville, Tennessee. The announcement was made Wednesday by the NCAA Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving Selection Committee in Indianapolis, Indiana.
The Aztec trio will compete at the NCAA Championships for the first time in their respective collegiate careers and are scheduled to swim in multiple events inside Allan Jones Aquatic Center on the University of Tennessee campus.
A native of Tucson, Arizona, Williams punched her ticket to the national meet in the 200 breaststroke after setting a conference and school record with a swim of 2:08.23 during the first day of time trials at the Mountain West Championships on Feb. 15, which ranks 18th in the country. She later took home the gold medal in the "A" finals of the same event on Feb. 18 with a 2:08.86 clocking.
With her spot secured, Williams was additionally selected to participate in the 100 breaststroke on the strength of her NCAA "B" Cut times during the season. The SDSU junior enters the competition at No. 44 national ranking in the 100 breaststroke after posting a winning time of 1:00.23 in the "A" finals of the event at the conference meet, which ranks fourth on the school's all-time list.
Murphy also qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 200 breaststroke after finishing second in the "A" finals just behind Williams at the conference meet with a collegiate-fast swim of 2:09.28, which ranks 29th nationally this year and third in program history.
Not to be outdone, Murphy earned two invitations to compete in the 200 and 400 individual medley at the national meet after solidifying her NCAA "B" Cut times throughout the season.
A graduate student from Clarksburg, California, Murphy took home the gold medal in the 200 IM at the MW Championships with a career-fast 1:57.69, which ranks second on the school's all-time charts and fourth in league history. She is also slotted 52nd in the country with that mark.
In addition, Murphy posted a collegiate-best 4:11.49 in the preliminaries of the 400 IM at the conference meet, which ranks second on SDSU's career list and seventh in MW history. With the result, she climbed into the 40th position nationally in the event. Murphy later won the silver medal in the "A" finals of the 400 IM after completing the race at 4:11.87.
A native of Visalia, California, Roberts qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 200 backstroke after capturing the gold medal at the Mountain West Championships with a conference and school-record time of 1:52.89, which ranks 23rd in the nation.
With her spot clinched in the 200 backstroke, Roberts was also invited to compete in the 100 backstroke and the 100 butterfly at the national meet based on her NCAA "B" Cut marks throughout the season. The SDSU junior enters the competition ranked 53rd in the country in the 100 back with a mark of 52.49 after swimming that segment in the Aztecs' victorious 400 medley relay team at the conference meet. Additionally, her clocking represents a personal best and ranks second in program history.
Roberts also logged a career-fast swim of 53.29 in the finals of the 100 fly at the MW Championships, earning a bronze medal in the process and climbing into fifth on the school's all-time charts.
The Aztecs are fresh off their second straight Mountain West championship and fourth in the last five years, setting a conference record with 1,638 team points.
In all, the Scarlet and Black claimed 10 individual gold medals and swept all five relay events at the MW meet last month en route to its seventh league title since 2011.
San Diego State will wait to see if the trio of Williams, Murphy and Roberts will be joined at the NCAA Championships by any Aztec divers. All qualifying divers will be announced on Sunday, March 12 following the conclusion of the NCAA's five zone championships.
Aztec Trio Qualifies for NCAA Championships
