Atlanta ? Kansas University senior Chelsie Miller took eighth place in the 400-yard individual medley Friday at the NCAA swimming and diving championships to earn first-team All-America honors.
Miller swam a time of 4:07.60. Miller qualified for KU’s first NCAA finals swim since 1993, when Frankie Hanson finished seventh in the 1,650-yard freestyle.
“That was my first year of coaching, and I got a chance to work with Frankie and the rest of the distance group all year,” KU coach Clark Campbell said. “When she got top eight in the mile, I thought this was cool and it must happen all the time. Since then, I’ve had coaching stints at other places, and one thing as you get older, you realize how special those championship finalists are at this meet. It’s such a fast competition, I’ll never take it for granted again.
“I’m so proud of Chelsie,” Campbell said. “Hopefully it won’t take another 23 years. To see her achieve that, it’s always something she’s wanted, and she did it.”
Miller will swim the 200-yard butterfly today at the NCAA meet.
“We need to keep aspiring to do this,” Campbell said. “It’s one of the fastest and deepest events in the world, such a fast, deep meet across the board. It’s nice to get back (to the finals).”
