Nov. 17, 2007
Bloomington, Ind. - The Penn State swimming teams wrapped up their three-day, championship format meet at the Hoosierland Open Invitational with several more swimmers turning in outstanding performances. The men's relay teams continued their dominance as the 400 free relay team won the event. Individually, Tim Williams came in first in the 200 butterfly while Caitlin Meehan won the 200 breaststroke to lead the Nittany Lions. No team scores were kept at the meet.
The men's 400 free relay team won the event by nearly two second over the Penn State `B' team, which finished in second. The `A' team of Basil Kaaki, Vincent Reydams, Sean Biedermann and Rob Felty won in 3:04.31 while the `B' team of Jason Goldner, Spencer Maglich, Ben Ryan and Pat Schirk touched the wall in 3:06.25, just .23 of a second in front of third place California.
Meehan won the 200 breast in 2:15.96, her third win in as many starts in that event this year. She also lowered her previous NCAA `B' cut and she has swam `B' cuts in all four of her swims this year in the 200 breast. She has also finished first in two out of her three finals swims in the 100 breast on the season.
Caitlin Meehan continued her outstanding swimming in the breaststroke events, winning the 200 breast in her best time of the season. |
The women took four of the top eight spots in the 200 breast as Kaitlin O'Brien and Abby Hoisington both swam `B' cuts in finishing third and fourth, respectively. O'Brien finished in 2:16.43 while Hoisington touched the wall in 2:17.84. Clare Clemens rounded out the foursome in eighth place with a time of 2:21.59.
Williams won the men's 200 fly in 1:49.49 after also swimming the fastest time in the morning prelims. Matt Cox finished 14th in the 200 fly.
The women also placed three out of the top eight finishers in the 200 fly, led by Kelly Nelson in third at 1:59.94, another NCAA `B' time for her in one of her top events. Karie Haglund placed sixth in 2:02.89, just short of a `B' cut. Kailey Morris finished in eighth place in 2:03.22. Freshman Alexandra Young also finished in 10th in an NCAA `B' time of 2:02.12.
Michelle Myers and Daphne Skelos placed fourth and seventh, respectively, in the 200 backstroke finals. Morris also placed 11th. In the 1650 free, traditionally a very strong event for the Nittany Lion women in championship events, Stephanie Roop and Sarah Baker finished 7-8. The women's 400 free relay team placed third as Nelson, Myers, Lindsey DeForrest and Baker just missed a `B' time with a 3:24.48.
Tim Williams won the 200 butterfly. |
On the men's side, the trio of David Kraft, Dito Calderon and Chris Sullivan placed third, fourth and fifth, respectively. Kraft's time of 15:26.91 earned him an NCAA `B' time.
Dan Fimbianti turned in an excellent performance as he finished second in the 200 back in 1:51.17. Ryan DeWeese placed seventh in the same event while Josh Graham finished 10th.
The men's team continued its outstanding swimming during the early season in the sprint freestyle events as the Nittany Lions had six of the top 16 finishers in the 100 free, led by Kaaki in fourth place in :46.32. Reydams finished just behind Kaaki in fifth in :46.73. Penn State had four finishers in the consolation final, led by Biedermann in 10th place. Rob Felty finishd 12th, Goldner 14th and Schirk 15th.
Both swimming teams will be off for Thanksgiving weekend next weekend before getting back into the pool for another championship-style meet in two weekends. Both teams will travel to the Princeton Invitational in Princeton, N.J., Friday-Sunday, November 30-December 2. That will be Penn State's last meet of the calendar year 2007.