NC State Continues to Work Magic: Gets Verbal from #7 Annabel Crush (2021)

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Annabel Crush has verbally committed to North Carolina State University for the 2021-22 season. She will join the Sheble twins, Caroline Sheble and Grace Sheble, in the class of 2025.

“I’m so extremely blessed and excited to announce my verbal commitment to swim and study at North Carolina State University! I can’t wait to be apart [sic] of this family! GO PACK!3

Crush is the #7 recruit on our Way Too Early list of top 20 girls in the high school class of 2021. She is highly versatile, with a 2020 US Olympic Team Trials cut in the 100m back (1:00.74); a US Open cut in the 200y free (1:47.55); Summer Juniors standards in the 50/100 free, 200 back, and 200 IM; and Winter Juniors cuts in the 500 free, 100 fly, and 400 IM. A junior at Sacred Heart Academy in Louisville, Kentucky, Crush is a three-time Kentucky High School state champion through her first two year of high school. She won the 100 back (52.90) and was runner-up in the 200 IM (2:00.19) as a freshman at the 2018 KHSAA State Meet. This past season she defended her backstroke title (53.02) and won the 200 IM (1:59.23).

Crush does her club swimming with Lakeside Swim Team. A member of the USA Swimming Women’s National Junior Team for 2020-21, she competed at 2019 FINA Junior World Championships in Budapest in the 50 back and 100 back. She made finals in both events, finishing 8th in the 50 and 6th in the 100. Earlier in the summer, she competed at Phillips 66 Nationals in the 100 free, 100 back, and 200 IM. She placed 8th in the 100 back and wrapped up the meet with new PBs in the 100 free and 100 back.

Crush comes from hearty collegiate swimming stock. Her parents (Chip Crush and Mimi Bowen Crush) met at Auburn. Chip Crush held the Independent High School National Record in the 100 back in 1994, then went on to Auburn where he was a 3x SEC individual champion and an All-American. Mimi, and her sister Maggie Bowen, both swam at Auburn, too. Mimi won NCAA titles in the 100 fly and 200 medley relay in 1997. Maggie won 9 NCAA titles during her years with the Tigers (200 IM x3, 400 IM x3, 400 free relay, 800 free relay, 400 medley relay).

NC State will have a number of choices, given Crush’s wide range of events. She is within a half-second of scoring range at NCAAs in the 100 back but she has been improving rapidly in freestyle. This time last year, she 23.4/50.1/1:49.3 in the 50/100/200; now she goes 22.7/48.9/1:47.5. As she continues to develop, Crush will have good relay value, as well.

Best SCY times:

• 100 back – 52.31
• 200 back – 1:55.50
• 50 free – 22.71
• 100 free – 48.97
• 200 free – 1:47.55
• 200 IM – 1:58.89
• 400 IM – 4:19.73
• 100 fly – 54.21

Our pack celebrating #NCState @PackAthletics pic.twitter.com/o9QZ4EOdjP

— Chip Crush (@chipcrush) October 27, 2019

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