Greensboro, N.C. -- Following a strong start to her week at the NCAA Division III Swimming Championships on Wednesday, Wheaton's Tess Boyer returned to the Greensboro Aquatic Center today for her second event at this year's national meet, the women's 400-yard individual medley. The two-time reigning CCIW champion in the 400 IM placed 14th in this morning's preliminary race to secure a place in this evening's consolation final, and Boyer made the most of her first finals appearance at the NCAA meet. The sophomore posted a new school- and conference-record time this evening to go along with the honorable mention All-America designation she earned by virtue of qualifying for the final round. This marks Boyer's first All-America recognition of any kind in her collegiate career, and her new benchmark in the 400 IM further adds to her honors in an event that she has dominated throughout her first two years at Wheaton.

The second-year swimmer came into Thursday's race owning a seed time of 4:26 flat, good for the 21st-best mark in today's 37-swimmer field. This time was also the second-fastest in program history in the women's 400 IM, trailing only Katie Deysher's mark of 4:25.36 that was set in 2015. Boyer registered a mark of 4:26.38 in this morning's prelim to come in 14th place, and as a result, she qualified for tonight's consolation final that was made up of the swimmers who finished ninth through 16th in the preliminary round. By securing a place in the finals, Boyer and her fellow competitors achieved an honorable mention All-America accolade, while the participants who finished first through eighth in the prelim were recognized as All-Americans. 

This already constituted a successful showing for the Kansas native in her first NCAA Championships appearance, but she went one step further in this evening's consolation final, adding to her honorable mention All-America award with a new conference and school record in the women's 400 IM. Boyer raced to a finals time of 4:24.95 to come in fifth in the consolation field on Thursday and 13th overall in the event, touching the wall .63 seconds after the 12th-placed MIT swimmer and nearly two full seconds before her Williams College challenger to establish a new CCIW and program standard in impressive fashion. 

Boyer will return to the GAC pool for the third and final time at this year's championships tomorrow morning, as she prepares to take part in the 200-yard butterfly event. She heads into the preliminary race with the 27th-highest seed time among the 41 competitors who have qualified for the women's 200 fly. Boyer's prelim is the third event on Friday morning's schedule and will begin at approximately 10:25 AM (EDT).