MINNEAPOLIS – UMBC freshman Emily Escobedo (New Rochelle, N.Y./Maria Regina) finished 52nd out of 62 swimmers in the prelims of the 200-yd. individual medley with a new school record time, Thursday afternoon on Day One of the 2014 NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships at the University of Minnesota's University Aquatic Center.
Competing in the first of nine heats, Escobedo finished second with a new school record time of 2:00.25. The time slips past her previous record of 2:00.63 which she set during her bronze-medal swim at the America East Championships.
The freshman is the third Retriever female swimmer, and fourth swimmer overall in program history, to compete at the NCAA Championships. She follows in the footsteps of Jacque Wisnauskus and Lindsey Prather who qualified for the national meet in 1990 and 2002, respectively. Last year, Mohamed Hussein (Cairo, Egypt/Victory College) competed at the men's championship meet as a junior, and returns this year to compete in Austin, Texas next week (March 27-29).
University of Georgia's Melanie Margalis paced the prelim field by touching in at 1:54.15. New Hampshire's Katie Mann, the 2014 America East champion in the event, placed 40th with a time of 1:58.78.
Escobedo continues her meet in Minneapolis on Friday with the 100-yd. breaststroke, followed by the 200-yd. breaststroke on Saturday.
