Jan. 18, 2008
Pittsburgh, Pa. - The men's and women's swimming and diving teams both started out extremely well at a multi-team meet being hosted by the University of Pittsburgh this weekend. The women's team leads all three of its dual meets by wide margins while the men also lead all four of their duals by varying margins after Friday's action, which consisted of nine events each for men and women. The meet will wrap up on Saturday.
The women's team won seven of the nine events contested on Friday, while the men took first place in five out of the nine events. The Nittany Lion women lead Maryland 125-41, lead host Pitt by a 113-54 margin and Villanova 131-36. The men's team leads Maryland 101-60, lead Missouri 87-77, lead Pitt 95-71, and top Villanova 132-29.
Two divers took the top two spots in the women's one-meter springboard event. Courtney Adlam took first place with a winning score of 227.25 while freshman Ilana Zeises was second with 215.50, topping the third place diver by less than a point. Liz Marasco took sixth.
In the 1650 freestyle, Stephanie Roop swam to a new NCAA `B' time and a season-best 16:38.64 in taking first place. She was followed in second by Sarah Baker. Diana Greco placed fourth. Roop, Baker and Greco were the only three Penn State swimmers to swim in the 1650 free.
Basil Kaaki won the 100 butterfly on Friday at the Pittsburgh meet. |
Michelle Myers won the 100 backstroke in a time :56.51. Penn State also took fourth through sixth place in that event with Kaitlyn Ferguson, Kaitlin O'Brien and Lauren Smart finishing in that order.
In the 100 free, Kelly Nelson took first in :51.55 and she was followed in a close second by Lindsey DeForrest in :51.71. Molly Crispell placed eighth in :52.89.
In an event that has become one of the strongest for the Penn State women this year, the Nittany Lions took the top three spots in the 100 breaststroke. Caitlin Meehan won in a time of 1:03.07. Lyndsey Smith took second in a season-best time of 1:04.81 while O'Brien was third in 1:05.55.
The women also took first place in both relay events that were contest on Friday. The 200 medley relay team of Ferguson, Abby Hoisington, Nelson and Myers won in a time of 1:43.94, topping the second place Penn State `B' team by almost three seconds. The 200 free relay team of Myers, DeForrest, Nelson and Crispell won in 1:34.86, just edging out second place Pitt by .19 of a second.
Stephanie Roop took first with an NCAA 'B' time and season best time in the 1650 free. |
In the two events that the women did not win, Alex Young led the way in the 100 butterfly, placing third in :57.25. Karie Haglund took fifth. The 400 IM saw Daphne Skelos and Kailey Morris place third and fourth, respectively, both just off NCAA `B' cuts, although Skelos already has a `B' cut in that event this year.
The men's team was led by a 1-2 finish in the 1650 free. Colin Quirk won the event with a season-best time of 15:46.89. He was followed in second by David Kraft in 16:01.56.
Other first place finishers for the men were Basil Kaaki, who won the 100 fly in :50.06 while Tim Williams came in third in :50.55. In the 100 back, Pat Schirk took first in :49.59. Dan Fimbianti was fifth with a time of :51.62. Sean Swanepoel won the 100 free in :45.81 while Vincent Reydams and Sean Biedermann were fourth and fifth, respectively. The 200 free relay team of Kaaki, Swanepoel, Reydams and Rob Felty finished first in 1:23.26.
Sean Swanepoel took first in the 100 free. |
Elsewhere for the men, Josh Bonner finished fourth in the three-meter springboard diving wit ha score of 295.60. Twin brother Justin was eighth with 242.50.
In the 400 IM, Dito Calderon finished a close second in 4:03.04, finishing just .42 of a second behind the first place finisher. Kyle Miranda finished sixth in the 100 breast.
Both teams will look to wrap up a perfect weekend in dual meets tomorrow when the meet concludes. Action will get underway at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday.