Miller Lung caps NCAA Championships with national runner-up finish

Mackenzie Miller Lung etched her place in BYU women’s swimming history with two school record times and a national runner-up finish in the 200 breast on the final day of the 2025 NCAA Women’s Swim and Dive Championships at Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatics Center on Saturday.

Author Joseph Hovey
BYU swimmer Mackenzie Miller Lung celebrates her national runner-up in the 200 breast with her coaches at the 2025 NCAA Championships in Federal Way, Washington.BYU swimmer Mackenzie Miller Lung celebrates her national runner-up in the 200 breast with her coaches at the 2025 NCAA Championships in Federal Way, Washington.
Rob Tiraphatna / BYU Athletics

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. — Mackenzie Miller Lung etched her place in BYU women’s swimming history with two school record times and a national runner-up finish in the 200 breast on the final day of the 2025 NCAA Women’s Swim and Dive Championships at Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatics Center on Saturday.

After cutting 0.41 seconds off her previous best to go 2:06.12 and finish first in the 200 breast trial Saturday morning, Miller Lung sliced another 1.09 seconds off her time to finish national runner-up at 2:05.03 in the final.

“I’ve worked so hard to be at this level and now I get to enjoy the reward,” said Miller Lung. “I could not have done it without my amazing coaches and teammates behind me, always pushing me to be better and telling me that I was capable of this.”

Miller Lung and Lucy Bell of Stanford went head-to-head in the trials and final with Miller Lung edging Bell in the trial and Bell earning the win of 0.75 seconds in the final. BYU’s breaststroke specialist held off Indiana’s Brearna Crawford by 0.63 seconds to secure the runner-up spot. Miller Lung also finished ahead of 2024 Olympians in Tennessee’s Irish bronze medalist Mona McSharry and Virginia’s Aimee Canny of Team South Africa.

With her second-place finish in the 200 breast and seventh in the 100 on Friday, Miller Lung leaves nationals having secured two All-America honors to cap a season further adorned by 17 race victories and nine school-record performances.

Miller Lung also put her stamp on several historical marks for the Cougar women’s program at nationals. The junior from Clovis, California recorded BYU’s fourth all-time national runner-up performance and first since Hiroko Nagasaki did so, also in the 200 breast, in 1991. Miller Lung’s two All-American finishes at the 2025 NCAA Championships is the most by a BYU women’s swimmer since K.C. Cline Lemon took two in the 100 and 200 back in 1990.

Miller Lung joins Cline Lemon as only the second two-time All-American in BYU’s NCAA women’s swimming era. Melanie Rile Menezes (1982) and LeLei Fonoimoana (1977-79) earned multiple All-American honors for the Cougars at AIAW Championships. With 29 points tallied for BYU in two races, Miller Lung leads the program to its best nationals finish (23rd) since taking 11th with 99 points in 1991.

“Today is a testament, not only to Mackenzie’s hard work, effort, talent and dedication, but that of all our athletes and coaches,” said BYU head swim and dive coach Tamber McAllister. “We are proud to be part of such a historic moment.”

Alexia Jackson Hansen completed BYU’s diving season with the conclusion of her first career appearance at nationals. The junior from Mesa, Arizona scored a 210.35 to finish 43rd in the national platform trials on Saturday morning.

Despite coming up short of advancing to finals on 3-meter and platform, BYU head dive coach Tyce Routson is proud of Jackson Hansen’s accomplishments during the 2024-25 season.

“It was a major accomplishment for Alexia to break that barrier and reach NCAA Championships,” Routson said. “Her hard work, consistency and endurance paid off through a heavy back end to the season.”