INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Montana White added to her accolades as perhaps the greatest swimmer in Azusa Pacific history Thursday at the NCAA Division II national championships, placing second in the 200-yard freestyle.  The senior hit the wall with a time of 1:46.06, just 14 hundredths of a second behind the winner and earning 17 points for the team.

White was at or near the front the entire way, being one of only two competitors who completed the first 50 yards in under 25 seconds.  She turned in the fastest time in the pool over each of the next two splits, and had a lead of about four tenths of a second going into the last lap before getting narrowly caught by Nova Southeastern freshman Kristina Orban, who turned in a last lap of 26.79 seconds to just outtouch White at the finish.

The second-place finish is the best result for the Cougars in any event at nationals in program history.  This is the seventh career all-American performance for White and her second individual award this week, having already earned the nod after swimming 9:56.64 for her fifth-place finish in the 1000 yard freestyle, to go along with a team win for their eighth-place finish in the meet-opening 4x200 relay.

Michaela Maemura also got the opportunity to compete this morning, swimming in the preliminary heats of the 100 butterfly.  The freshman hit the wall in a time of 55.78, which put her in 27th place in the event, though only half a second behind the 16th place necessary to earn points for the team score.

With White's runner-up performance in the 200, the Cougars earned points for the third time this week, taking the team up to 53 points (only 1.5 points short of last year's total) and 14th place in the overall standings with two days remaining.  White has had a hand in all three events that scored points.  White will have another chance to add to her total on Friday when she gets her shot at the 500 freestyle, while Maemura will compete in the 100 backstroke.