INDIANAPOLIS – Sophomore Sydney Thompson earned All-America honors with her performance in the 50-yard freestyle to lead the Amherst College women's swimming and diving team on the first day of the NCAA Division III Championships on Wednesday at Indiana University Indianapolis.

After swimming a personal-best time of 23.19 seconds in the trials to qualify for the consolation final, Thompson touched in 23.20 seconds in the consolation final to finish 12th overall and earn All-America Second Team honors, her first career All-America finish. Thompson notched Amherst's highest finish in this event since 2005. Junior Lucy Smith also competed in the 50 free and tied for 42nd place with a time of 23.77 seconds in the trials.

Thompson's finish in the 50 free earned five points for the Mammoths in the team standings, ensuring that Amherst will score at the national championship meet for the 38th straight season. The Mammoths sit in 21st place while NYU leads after the first day with 121 points through 4 of 20 events.

In other action in the trials, junior Paige Arnold earned a 19th-place finish in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:04.95, Amherst's best finish in that event since 2018.

First-year Ava Insteness made her NCAA Championships debut with a personal-best time of 5:04.45 in the 500-yard freestyle to claim 35th place.

The national championship meet continues through Saturday in Indianapolis with trials beginning at 10 a.m. and finals at 6 p.m. each day. Thursday's schedule includes the 200-yard freestyle in which Insteness, Thompson and first-year Penny Lazar are expected to represent the Mammoths; Arnold and junior Maeve Kelley in the 100-yard butterfly; senior Donna Zhang and first-year Brooke Ronan in one-meter diving; and the Mammoths' 200-yard freestyle relay squad.

Thursday's schedule includes two events in which the Mammoths won NESCAC championships this season. Arnold won the conference title in the 100 fly and is seeded sixth in the national championship field. Ronan and Zhang took the top two spots at the NESCAC championship in one-meter diving. The Mammoths are ranked 13th in the nation in the latest CSCAA Division III poll.