March 17, 2012

Results

Auburn, Ala. - Junior swimmer Brienne Ryan had little time to wait for her heat of the 200-yard backstroke event at the 2012 NCAA Championship, hosted at Auburn University on Saturday. Competing in heat two of the first event of the day, Ryan won her heat in school record time, but was just edged out of the top 16 by 0.03 seconds.

Ryan, who swam 1:54.67, was just beat out by Ohio State's Emily Creran (1:54.63) and Maryland's Virginia Glover (1:54.64) for the final two "B" final qualifying spots.

Ryan will now play the waiting game for tonight's finals. With the 17th place finish, Ryan is listed as the first alternate for the event, meaning that if any of the 16 finalists are unable to compete at 8:00 PM tonight, the competitors would slide up and Ryan would be a part of the "B" final.

Her time of 1:54.67 supplants her previous school record time of 1:56.11, set last year's at the 2011 Atlantic 10 Championship.

In her heat, Ryan took the lead in the third leg of the race and held off A-10 rival Lauren Hines of Richmond (1:55.80) to win the heat. She also topped Indiana's Lauren Jordan (1:56.22), Georgia's Nicole Vernon (1:57.15), Arizona State's Mattie Kukors (1:59.08), and West Virginia's Danielle Smith (2:01.24).

The Saturday finals can be viewed on WatchESPN.com.