INDIANAPOLIS – Ursinus Senior Swimmers Sophie Lear and Ryan Carkhuff competed in their first race of the 2022 NCAA Division III Championships on Wednesday.

Each swimmer competed in the 50 freestyle to start the first of three races they will be participating in during the next four days.

Lear topped her own school record and Centennial Conference record in the 50 freestyle during the morning prelims after posting a time of 23.24 and qualified for the B-finals by finishing 10th overall to earn her first All-American status in an individual event. She followed that in the evening session by narrowly matching her prelims time with a 23.25, finishing 11th overall and topping her pre-championship seed of 14th. Lear also bested her previous finish in the event of 25th back during her first appearance back in the 2019 Championships.

Becoming the first Ursinus Men's Swimmer to compete at NCAA Championships, Carkhuff recorded a time of 20.31 in the 50 free prelims and tied for the final spot into the B-finals. By virtue of the tie, Carkhuff and Nat Davenport of Johns Hopkins faced each other in a swim off for the final spot and Davenport narrowly edged Carkhuff for entry into the B-finals.

Carkhuff returns to action tomorrow, March 17th as he will be competing in the 200 freestyle prelims at 10:00 a.m. Lear's next race will be the 100 breaststroke prelims on Friday morning at 10 a.m.