Oakland, CA - The Mills College swim team has qualified for the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) 25th Annual National Swimming and Diving Championships.

In order to attend the competition, these swimmers had to achieve a qualifying time that placed them among the best NAIA swimmers in the nation. The five swimmers who qualified and will be representing Mills College are Shayna Elbling (FR), Chrissy Fisher (SO), Erin Lucas (SO), Catherine Stitt (JR), and Sophia Tuttle (SR).

This is the fifth time in the history of Mills College intercollegiate athletics that one of our teams has gone to a national championship and the third time the Mills swim team has been to Nationals. 2006 marks the largest number of swimmers qualifying for Nationals in the College's history.

Head Coach Neil Virtue is in his fourth year at Mills College and Assistant Coach Bridget Mansell is in her fifth year at Mills College. The meet will be held in St. Louis, Missouri on March 1-4, 2006.

Here is the schedule of events and the Mills participants for the meet:

Thursday, March 2nd:

200-yard Medley Relay
Shayna Elbling, FR
Chrissy Fisher, SO
Catherine Stitt, JR
Sophia Tuttle, SR

Friday, March 3rd:

200-yard Freestyle Relay
Shayna Elbling, FR
Erin Lucas, SO
Sophia Tuttle, SR
Chrissy Fisher, SO

100-yard Breast stroke:
Chrissy Fisher, SO

400-yard Medley Relay:
Shayna Elbling, FR
Chrissy Fisher, SO
Catherine Stitt, JR
Sophia Tuttle, SR

Saturday, March 4th

200-yard Breast Stroke:
Chrissy Fisher, SO
Catherine Stitt, JR

1650 Freestyle:
Catherine Stitt, JR

400-yard Freestyle Relay:
Shayna Elbling, FR
Sophia Tuttle, SR
Chrissy Fisher, SO
Catherine Stitt, JR

Mills College is a nationally renowned, independent liberal arts college offering innovative degree programs for undergraduate women, and graduate degree and certificate programs for women and men. Consistently ranked among the top 75 liberal arts colleges in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, Mills is also recognized as one of the country’s 20 most diverse liberal arts colleges. The Princeton Review selected Mills as one of 11 colleges for first-time inclusion in its Best 361 Colleges–2005. Nestled in the foothills of Oakland, California on 135 lush acres, Mills provides a dynamic liberal arts education fostering women’s leadership, social responsibility, and creativity.

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