March 22, 2008
Columbus, Ohio - Kelly Nelson became Penn State's only All-American this year and the first All-American swimmer from Penn State since Kaitlin O'Brien in 2006 with a sixth place finish in the 200 butterfly on Saturday to cap Penn State's stay at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. Kailey Morris also finished 13th to earn her second straight honorable mention All-American honor in the 200 fly.
As a team, the Nittany Lions finished in 29th place with a total of 26 points. A total of 50 teams scored points at the championships this year. Arizona won the meet with a total of 484 points. Penn State scored points in four different events at NCAA's this year.
Nelson earned her first career All-American honor with her sixth place finish in the 200 fly, touching the wall in 1:55.86, shattering her own school record that she set last month at Big Ten Championships. She also finished sixth in the morning prelims with a time of 1:56.19, which also broke her own school record. Nelson ends this year's NCAA meet as an All-American in one event and an honorable mention All-American in two relay events. For her career, she is now a one-time All-American and a six-time honorable mention All-American.
Morris swam her career best time of 1:57.39 in the 200 fly in the morning prelims to finish 14th and advance to the consolation finals. She then touched the wall in 1:57.56 in the finals to finish 13th for the second straight year at NCAAs and earn her second straight honorable mention All-American honor. Morris is now a three-time honorable mention All-American, having also earned the status on the 800 free relay team this year.
Although no other Nittany Lions scored points on Saturday, there were a few other highlights for Penn State. Daphne Skelos finished just two spots short of qualifying for the consolation finals in the 200 back, finishing 18th in 1:57.11. Michelle Myers swam the second-fastest time in school history in the 100 free, becoming just the second-ever swimmer at Penn State to finish the event in under :50 seconds as she touched the wall in :49.97, just .13 of a second short of current assistant coach Dee Dlugonski's school record of :49.84. Despite that feat for Myers, she finished 49th
Other finishers in the prelims for Penn State on Saturday included Kaitlyn Ferguson with a 34th place finish in the 200 back in a career best time of 1:59.41. Kaitlin O'Brien finished 23rd in the 200 breast in 2:14.30 and Caitlin Meehan placed 27th in 2:15.04. Abby Hoisington and Clare Clemens took 30th and 31st, respectively. Stephanie Roop finished 32nd in the 1650 free.
This year marks the eighth straight year that the Penn State women's swimming and diving team has scored points at NCAA Championships.
2008 Penn State All-American
Kelly Nelson (200 Butterfly)
2008 Penn State Honorable Mention All-Americans
Kaitlyn Ferguson (400 medley relay)
Abby Hoisington (400 medley relay)
Kailey Morris (200 Butterfly, 800 free relay)
Michelle Myers (400 medley relay, 800 free relay)
Kelly Nelson (400 medley relay, 800 free relay)
Kaitlin O'Brien (400 IM)
Stephanie Roop (800 free relay)