INDIANAPOLIS - Penn State senior Ally McHugh (Philadelphia, Pa.) junior Maddie Hart (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) were both officially invited to the 2019 NCAA Women's Swimming & Diving Championships Wednesday by the NCAA Division I Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving Committee.
The championships will be held March 20-23 at the Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center in Austin, Texas, at the University of Texas.
McHugh is making her third appearance at the meet and qualified in the 500 freestyle, 1,650 freestyle and 400 IM.
McHugh, a member of the U.S. National Team, ranks in the Top 25 of all three events, highlighted by her second-place ranking in the 1,650 free. Her season-best time of 15:41.36 is just one-hundredth of a second behind national leader Phoebe Hines of Hawaii. A two-time Big Ten Champion in the event, McHugh claimed a silver medal in it at the 2018 NCAA Championships, setting a school record of 15:36.27 and becoming the highest finishing Penn Stater all-time at the NCAA Women's Swimming & Diving.
McHugh ranks 21st in the 500 free (4:38.46) and 25th in the 400 IM (4:07.89) this season. She placed ninth in the 500 free and 17th in the 400 IM at last season's NCAA Championships. This past summer, McHugh excelled in the long course 400-meter IM and 1,500m freestyle, winning gold and silver, respectively at the U.S. National Championships.
Hart is making her first appearance at the NCAA Championships after swimming a personal-best 52.09 seconds in the 100 butterfly at the Big Ten Championships, which ranks her 27th nationally entering NCAAs. Hart also holds B-cut times in the 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke and 200 butterfly.
Swimmers qualified for the championships by meeting the established minimum time for the events in which they entered.
Divers will be determined by performances at the Zone Diving Meets held Mar. 11-16. Selected divers will be announced Sunday, March 17.
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.
