AUSTIN, Texas – Penn State senior captain Ally McHugh finished the 400 IM finals in 10th place, setting a new school record, Friday night at the NCAA Championships, hosted by the University of Texas.
McHugh completed the race in 4:05.78 shaving about two seconds off her season-best time of 4:07.89 set at the ACC/B1G Challenge, and besting her previous record of 4:06.27 set at the 2017 Big Ten Championships. The swam advanced her a number of spots in the rankings and earned her second overall in the heat. In the preliminaries, McHugh completed the race in 14th place with a time of 4:07.98.
"Ally McHugh's swim was very very good. She finally got settled into the meet this morning," said Head Coach Tim Murphy, "Tonight she showed what she's capable of. It's a lifetime best time and she hasn't had a best time in that event for a while now.
Junior Maddie Hart competed in the preliminaries of the 100 fly, her first event of the championship. Hart, who is making her first ever NCAA appearance, completed the race in 55.24 for a 25th-place finish.
"Maddie swam well, just needed to swim faster to make it back," said Coach Murphy, "She did a good job and had a good swim. We're excited for her 200 fly tomorrow. She is settled into the meet now."
McHugh will take the pool for a final time for Penn State tomorrow evening in the 1650 freestyle. The race is set to start at 6 p.m. ET live on ESPNU. Last year's silver medalist in the race, she currently sits at second in the nation with a season-best time of 15:41.46, just a hundredth of a second shy of the fastest time in the nation.
Hart will also take the pool tomorrow morning for the final time to compete in the 200 fly. The race will begin at 10 a.m. ET and is available to stream at TexasSports.com. Her season-best time in the race is 1:57.43 set at the Big Ten Championships this year.
Check GoPSUSports.com for coverage of the Penn State swimming and diving teams during the season. Follow the team on Twitter at @PennStateSWIM and on Facebook at facebook.com/pennstateswimminganddiving.
A fundraiser was launched to support freshman women's swimmer Nikolette Nolte and her family for costs associated with her leukemia treatment. Any surplus funds will be donated to THON and the Jessie Rees Foundation to help others facing pediatric cancer. Donate at gopsu.info/nikistrong.
