DAY 3 RESULTS
 
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Theresa Michalak shot off the wall like a bullet in the final 25 yards of her NCAA Division II record-breaking swim in the 100 Breast on Friday. Tied with Drury's Bailee Nunn after the first 50, Michalak held steady for the next 25 yards and started to stretch her lead in the home stretch.
 
Michalak and Nunn were neck-and-neck throughout the duration of the swim, but that final push made Michalak the first female DII swimmer to ever break the 1:00 mark in the 100 Breast, at 59.51, and gave her a third national championship this week. She now has four in her UWF career, giving her the most in program history, with two victories in the 100 Breast, a win in the 50 Free on Wednesday and a win in the 100 Fly on Thursday.

Michalak's time of 59.51 in the 100 Breast is the 14th-fastest in any collegiate division this year.
 
"I feel really good," Michalak said. "I did not expect that I would win tonight. I didn't feel well the whole day so I was a little out of it, but I really don't know how I did it. I think my body just knew what to do. I know when I'm even with (Nunn) over the last 25, I can beat her."
 
Michalak owned the national record for the 100 Breast for part of the year, clocking a 1:00.62 in the event at the Panther Invitational last November. Nunn would later set the record herself, clocking a 1:00.28. It is the second NCAA record Michalak has set this week, after she swam a 52.33 in the 100 Fly on Thursday. Michalak becomes the 10th female student-athlete to repeat as the national champion in the 100 Breast.
 
"We knew that of her races, the 100 Breast would be the toughest for her," head coach Andrew Hancock said. "It was going to take something special to win, and she was able to do it. We wanted her to stick to her race plan and stick to the details, and she was able to do that just like last night in the Fly. She's done a great job and works incredibly hard, and represents the university so well. It's nice when people get deserved results for their hard work."
 
Michalak will have a chance for history tomorrow when she competes in the 100 Free. Only 15 female swimmers at the DII level before her have won four national championships in a single year. Michalak posted the fastest time in the 100 Free of anyone at the meet this year at 49.42. Michalak now also has 12 All-American honors in her UWF career, which is the second-most in program history.
 
Madeline Pitt stood out for UWF on Friday as well, becoming an All-American in the 200 Fly after swimming a 2:03.35 on Friday night. The AA nod is the seventh of her career, which gives her the fourth-most in UWF history, and she set a personal best in the event in Friday morning's preliminary session, going 2:03.07.
 
"I'm really happy, I went into it and didn't have any expectations," Pitt said. "I didn't think I was going to score, so just being in finals was awesome. I didn't really start training for this event until about halfway through the season, so being able to be that high in the nation feels amazing."
 
Pitt held steady during the swim and a final push at the wall gave her a touch ahead of Lindenwood's Lena Kirchner, as Pitt bested Kirchner's 33.08 in the final 50 yards with a 32.72.
 
"We knew this year that Maddie had a chance to come to this meet and be a player," Hancock said. "She certainly has worked her way into the meet very well. To be able to be 12th in the country when you've only been focusing on something for a couple of weeks, that just shows what a competitor she is and how good a swimmer she is, and I'm very proud of her."
 
Pitt will compete in the 1650 Free on Saturday evening and holds the eighth-fastest time in DII this year in the event. She has earned honorable mention All-American honors in the 1650 Free in each of her trips to the national meet before.
 
"I feel like after today, I'm ready, I'm confident, and I'm really excited for tomorrow," Pitt said.
 
UWF held steady at ninth place overall on Friday with 122 points, picking up 25 points between Michalak's and Pitt's efforts. With a strong schedule of events for tomorrow, the team is just five points behind Fresno Pacific, 29 points behind West Chester and 32 points behind Wayne State.
 
West Florida will wrap up the meet on Saturday, with prelims beginning at 10:30 a.m., diving prelims beginning at 2 p.m., and finals beginning at 5:30 p.m. The 1650 Free, 100 Free, 200 Back, 200 Breast, 3-meter diving and the 400 Free Relay are on the docket for Saturday.