She accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where she swam for coach Gregg Troy's Florida Gators swimming and diving team in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) competition from 2009 to 2012.

She earned a total of seventeen All-American honors, including six as a senior in 2012.

[2] At the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Crippen won the gold medal in the 200-meter backstroke and the silver in the 400-meter individual medley.

She also won a gold by swimming in the prelims of the 4x200-meter At the 2010 US National Championships, the selection meet for both the 2010 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships and the 2011 World Aquatics Championships, Crippen placed second in the 200-meter butterfly and fifth in both the 400-meter individual medley and 200-meter backstroke.

[3][4][5] Crippen won the silver medal at the 2010 Pan Pacific Championships in the 200-meter butterfly, placing second to former world-record holder Jessicah Schipper.