EVANSVILLE, Ind. – University of Missouri-St. Louis junior distance swimmer Justice Beard completed the distance triple crown as she won the 1650 free in a personal best and school record time of 16:24.18 on Saturday evening to claim her third national championship at this year's NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships at the Deaconess Aquatic Center in Evansville, Ind.

Beard came out strong swimming her first 50 with a split of 25.83 and led wire-to-wire in the race as she won the title by more than 12 seconds over Nova Southeastern's Hailey Williams. Beard's splits hovered in the 0:29-to-0:30 second range but she turned it in her final lap finishing with a split of 27.42.

She finished the championship meet scoring 60 points earning four individual All-American awards (three first team and an honorable mention) and was a member of the 200 and 400-yard freestyle relay teams that earned honorable mention All-America honors.

UMSL's 400-yard free relay quartet of Audrey Lantz, Romina Itzkovich, Ella Lantz and Beard swam out of lane eight in the second of three heats and finished 14th overall in a time of 3:27.78.

E. Lantz swam in the morning prelims in the 100 free finishing with a time of 52.17 seconds but didn't qualify for the evening final while Uxue Ortiz de Pinedo swam in the 200 breast and finished with a time of 2:21.63 and missed out on qualifying for the finals.

The Tritons finished the meet in 15th place out of 35 teams with a total of 75 points. It's the highest finish at the national meet for the team breaking the mark set last year when they finished 20th with 52 points in Indianapolis.