General | 2/27/2020 8:39:00 AM

WOMEN'S SELECTED ENTRIES | WOMEN'S PSYCH SHEETS | MEN'S SELECTED ENTRIES | MEN'S PSYCH SHEETS

BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - Senior Becca Cubbler (Royersford, Pa./Spring-Ford) and sophomore Colton Schnars (Bellefonte, Pa./Bellefonte) of the Bloomsburg University women's and men's swimming teams have been selected to participate in the 2020 NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving National Championships as announced late Wednesday afternoon. This year's championships will be held from March 11 to March 14 at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.

With Schnars advancing, the men are also eligible to send the 200-yard freestyle relay team to the national championships as the foursome posted an NCAA "B" time of 1:21.02 at the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships. That quartet will consist of Schnars, redshirt senior Kyle Dix (Schwenksville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley), junior Collin Hummel (Lewisburg, Pa./Lewisburg), and sophomore Pat Agnew (Pottstown, Pa./Pottsgrove). The Huskies' time of 1:21.02 enters the meet as the 18th-best time in the country this season. McKendree is seeded first with the nation's best time of 1:18.94.

Cubbler was invited to compete in three events - the 500-yard freestyle, the 1000-yard freestyle, and the 1650-yard freestyle - while Schnars was chosen to swim in the 100-yard backstroke. By virtue of posting NCAA "B" cuts in other events during the season, Schnars will also participate in the 50-yard freestyle and the 200-yard backstroke. Cubbler also hit an NCAA "B" cut in the 200-yard freestyle but, due to the schedule, will scratch in that event to focus on other distances.

Ten female swimmers from the PSAC were selected to swim at the NCAA Division II Championships - Cubbler; Ann Carozza, Madison Grenoble, Emma O'Neill, and Georgia Wright from West Chester; Katelyn Kopacko and Yana Miletska from Edinboro; Rachel Johnson and Paige Mikesell from IUP; and Gabriella Johnson from Shippensburg. On the men's side, only three were chosen from the PSAC - Schnars, Gannon's Brent Benedict, and West Chester's Leo Chaves.

Cubbler will kick off the national championships with a night swim in the finals of the 1000-yard freestyle as she enters the meet ranked seventh in the country with a school-record time of 10:02.35 which she established last week at the conference championships. She is ranked 11th in the country in the 500-yard freestyle with a season-best time of 4:53.82 and is ranked 16th in the nation in the 1650-yard freestyle with a personal-best time of 17:00.21. West Chester's Georgia Wright leads the country in both the 1000-yard freestyle (9:50.45) and the 1650-yard freestyle (16:23.71) while Colorado School of Mines' Mia Wood leads in the 500-yard freestyle (4:46.11).

Schnars, meanwhile, enters his first national championship meet ranked 20th in the country in the 100-yard backstroke with a school-record time of 48.75. Delta State's Giulio Brugnoni is tops in the nation with a season-best time of 46.23. In his two other events, Schnars is 28th in the 200-yard backstroke with a school-record mark of 1:48.31 and is ranked 39th in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 20.60. Drury's Nathan Bighetti leads in the 200-yard backstroke (1:43.16) while McKendree's Gregg Lichinsky and Gannon's Brent Benedict lead in the 50-yard freestyle (19.73).

Cubbler earned three All-American honors at last year's NCAA Championships - the first three of her career - while Schnars will be searching for his first collegiate All-American accolade.