Nov. 17, 2007
Bloomington, Ind. - After placing second in both relays that were contested on the first day of the Hoosierland Open Invitational, the Penn State men's swimming team highlighted the second day of the meet for the Nittany Lions as the men placed second in two more relays, the 200 medley and 800 freestyle. Kelly Nelson won the 400 IM in an NCAA `B' provisional qualifying time to lead the women.
Kelly Nelson won the 400 IM in a time of 4:17.63. Penn State had three of the top eight finishers in the 400 IM as Daphne Skelos placed sixth in 4:25.25 while Karie Haglund came in just behind her in seventh in 4:27.61.
The men's 200 medley relay team of Pat Schrik, Kyle Miranda, Basil Kaaki and Vincent Reydams placed second in 1:31.68, just edging out Indiana for second place. In the 800 free relay, Spencer Maglich, Ben Ryan, Jon Cochrane and Sean Biedermann came in a solid second place with a time of 6:53.27, nearly four seconds in front of the Penn State `B' team of Schirk, James Capparell, Ryan DeWeese and Josh Graham, who finished third in 6:57.24.
The Nittany Lions also did well in the women's 100 breaststroke as Caitlin Meehan finished third in 1:03.33, another NCAA `B' cut. She has swam at least a NCAA `B' time in all of her swims this year in the 100 breast. Lyndsey Smith came in eighth in the 100 breast in 1:06.64.
The women's 800 freestyle relay team swam a `B' time in their first swim in that event this year. Nelson, O'Brien, Myers and Baker swam it in 7:23.16 to finish in third place.
Tim Williams finished fourth in the men's 100 butterfly, touching the wall in :50.04, while Basil Kaaki finished sixth in :50.17.
The Nittany Lion men did outstanding in the 200 free, taking four of the top eight spots, led by Ben Ryan in third at 1:41.89. Sean Biedermann, Jon Cochrane and Spencer Maglich finished fifth through seventh. Penn State also had seven of the top 16 finishers in the 200 free as DeWeese, Capparell and Graham finished 14th through 16th.
Miranda came in fifth in the 100 breast while Dan Fimbianti finished fourth in the 100 back.
Other highlights for the women included a fifth place finish by the women's 200 medley relay team of Myers, Meehan, Nelson and Baker. In the 200 free, the Nittany Lions did not place any finishers in the top eight but they had four finishers in the consolation final as Baker finished 10th and Kaitlin O'Brien, Stephanie Roop and Michelle Myers finished 12th through 14th. Nelson added a 14th place finish in the 100 backstroke to her first place in the 400 IM.