At the 2007 NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships in Minneapolis, Minn., March 8-10, the Big West Conference will have five representatives from three different schools competing for a national championship in their respective events.

Leading the pack is the 2007 Big West Female Swimmer of the Year Lyndsay DePaul. The UC Irvine freshman is set to compete in the 200 and 400 individual medley and the 200 butterfly, all three events she won at last week’s Big West Swimming & Diving Championships. DePaul, who sits 11th in the country in the 200 IM, enters the three-day event owning the Big West’s top times in all three races, as she posted a mark of 1:59.30 in the 200 fly and times of 2:00.39 and 4:14.25 in the 200 and 400 IM.

Joining DePaul will be teammate Chelsea Nagata, former Co-Big West Female Swimmer of the Year. Nagata swam an automatic qualifying time of 53.26 to secure the ninth spot in the 100 butterfly. With marks of 54.80 in the 100 backstroke and 23.27 in the 50 freestyle, Nagata picked up her second and third events in this year’s NCAA Championship.

Like UC Irvine, 2007 Big West Champions UC Santa Barbara will also be sending two swimmers to the Twin City - Anne Marie May and Jennifer Schwalb. May drew a 16th spot with a time of 22.61 in the 50 free, while also earning a spot in the 100 backstroke at 50.52. A season-best time of 2:00.56 in the 200 IM earned Schwalb the 25the slot. She will also prepare to compete in the 100 and 200 butterfly.

The final Big West representative set to compete for a NCAA title is Pacific’s Ja-Neil Bragg. The former Co-Big West Female Athlete of the Year joins DePaul in the 200 IM and 400 IM. Bragg locked in the 400 IM’s 15th-spot with a time of 4:15.21, while placing 32nd in the 200 IM at 2:01.05.