Haebig, Ehly Lead Huskers at Winter Nationals

Columbus, Ohio - Autumn Haebig led a collection of six Nebraska swimmers who produced strong performances at USA Swimming Winter Nationals at the McCorkle Aquatics Center over the weekend.

Haebig, a freshman from Grafton, Wis., posted Nebraska's top individual showing of the weekend with her seventh-place finish in the 500 freestyle on Thursday. Haebig raced to a time to a career-best 4:42.80 in the A Final, after posting the fifth-fastest qualifying time (4:43.68) on Thursday morning. Haebig's 4:42.80 was nearly five full seconds ahead of the NCAA B qualifying standard.

On Friday, Haebig added a third-place finish with a career-best and NCAA B qualifying time of 53.85 in the B Final of the 100 backstroke. Haebig's time was 1.24 seconds ahead of the NCAA B standard and would have been good for sixth place in Friday's A Final. Haebig qualified 13th in the 100 back prelims on Friday morning with a time of 54.20. She also helped the Huskers to a fifth-place team finish (3:40.26) in the 400 medley relay on Friday. Haebig joined Morgan McCafferty, Izzie Murray and Jordan Ehly on the 400 medley relay squad.

Ehly, a senior from Las Cruces, N.M. also had an impressive weekend, advancing to the B Finals in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke events. Ehly capped her weekend by taking third in the B Final (2:12.54) of the 200 breast after posting the 10th-best qualifying time Saturday morning. 

On Friday, Ehly finished eighth in the B Finals of the 100 breast, posting a career-best time of 1:01.62, which was 0.78 seconds faster than her previous best and met the NCAA B qualifying standard. She advanced to finals by recording the 15th-best time (1:01.78) among 47 swimmers Friday morning.

Murray, a freshman from North Bend, Ohio, who was swimming close to home, took fourth in B Final of the 200 butterfly on Saturday. Murray swam to a time of 1:59.67 in the B Final, after qualifying with the 11th-best time (1:59.77) in Saturday morning's prelims. Murray's time in the B Final was a career best and just missed an NCAA B qualifying standard by 0.08 seconds.

On Friday, Murray won the C Final of the 100 butterfly in a career-best and NCAA B qualifying time of 54.18, after posting the 19th-best time (54.52) in Friday's morning's prelimaries. She also posted the 30th-best time (56.21) among 42 swimmers in Thursday morning prelims in the 100 backstroke.

Captain Anna McDonald advanced to the C Finals in the 200 backstroke and the 200 individual medley events. McDonald took fourth in the C Final of the 200 back in a time of 1:59.24, after finishing 19th in Saturday's prelims in a time of 1:59.51. The junior from Evergreen, Colo., took fifth in the C Final of the 200 IM in a time of 2:02.69, after qualifying 22nd (2:03.19) on Thursday morning.

Jacqueline Jeschke (Augusta, Ga.) rounded out Nebraska's competitors at USA Swimming Winter Nationals by finishing sixth in the C Final of the 200 backstroke. Jeschke posted a time of 2:00.29 in the finals, after qualifying 22nd (1:59.95) on Saturday morning.

The Huskers will take a significant break from competition to complete fall semester finals and enjoy the holidays before returning to dual action against Omaha on Saturday, Jan. 13.

Nebraska New NCAA B Qualifying Standards Met at USA Swimming Winter Nationals
Autumn Haebig - 500 Freestyle - 4:42.80/career best (B Standard - 4:47.49)
Autumn Haebig - 100 Backstroke - 53.85/career best (B Standard - 55.09)
Jordan Ehly - 100 Breastroke - 1:01.62/career best (B Standard - 1:02.49)
Izzie Murray - 100 Butterfly - 54.18/career best (B Standard - 54.49)