Knoxville, Tenn. - Ithaca senior Sheila Rhoades (Dryden/Dryden) placed fourth in the championship finals of the 100-yard freestyle in a school-record time on the fourth and final day of the NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships at the University of Tennessee. Ithaca's four swimmers earned 41 points during the meet and the Bombers placed 21st in the team standings among 53 teams that scored.
Rhoades swam 50.42 seconds in the finals of the 100-yard freestyle, which was the final event in which she competed in her accomplished Ithaca career. It was a school-record time, and bettered the mark of 50.71 seconds she established in 2010. Rhoades earned first-team all-American status, and it is the 16th all-America honor of her career. That total ranks eighth all-time at Ithaca.
Rhoades qualified for the event final by swimming 50.99 seconds in her preliminary heat of the 100 free and ranked eighth among all qualifiers. In other preliminary results, sophomore Carly Jones (Liverpool/Liverpool) placed 22nd in the preliminaries of the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:22.73.
It is the fourth year in a row that Ithaca has placed 21st or higher in the team standings at the NCAA meet.