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WEST LAFAYETTE, IND. – Four H₂Okie women opened competition at the NCAA Championships on Thursday at Purdue University, competing in the 50 and 500 freestyle events.

Erika Hajnal and Lauren Ritter posted top-30 finishes in the 500 freestyle, with Hajnal touching in 22^nd-overall with a time of 4:43.93. Ritter took 30^th in 4:44.60, while Kelly deMarrais finished 55^th in 4:49.51.

Katarina Filova was the only Tech swimmer in the 50 freestyle, taking 41^st in 22.91, recording a new personal best.

All four swimmers will return to the pool tomorrow to compete in the 800 freestyle relay and will look to improve upon their program top’s finish. deMarrias, Filova, Hajnal and Ritter teamed up to produce a school-record finish of 7:06.93 at the ACC Championships last month. Hajnal will also swim in the 400 IM, an event which she holds a school-record time of 4:10.78, while deMarrais, Ritter and Filova will take part in the 200 freestyle. Filova set a program-best mark of 1:45.71 in the 200 free at the ACC Championships.

Preliminary competition will begin at 11 a.m., followed by the finals at 7 p.m. Results will be available at www.hokiesports.com.

For updates on Virginia Tech swimming & diving, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_SwimDive).