GENEVA, Ohio  On the final day of the NCAA 2024 Division II Men's and Women's Swimming & Diving Championships, Western Colorado freshman and school record holder Morgan Nielsen concluded her event schedule at the meet with a 29th place in the women's 1,650-yard freestyle.

Nielsen posted a time of 17 minutes, 24.76 seconds in the opening heat of the event during the Saturday morning's preliminaries session at the SPIRE Institute Aquatic Center.

While the swim fell short of her school record (17:17.17) she registered two weeks prior at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championship meet, Nielsen was able to finally settle in after the opening 500 into the paces she had held during her swim at the RMAC meet.

She never rose over a 50-yard pace of 32.5 seconds, more often finishing each 50 in the mid- to high-31s.

The trip to nationals was Nielsen's first NCAA championship event, an accomplishment that included three races in her first collegiate season.

Nielsen set school records in those three events at the RMAC meet, adding the 500- and 1,000-free records to the 1,650 free.