July 8, 2008
Omaha, Neb. - Five Penn State swimmers competed on Saturday, the final day of preliminaries at U.S. Olympic Trials. Michelle Myers swam in the 50 free while David Kraft, Dito Calderon, Chris Sullivan and Ben Ryan all swam in the 1500 freestyle.
Kraft turned in an excellent swim, finishing 21st in 15:36.71 while Calderon and Sullivan finished within a second of each other in 37th and 38th place, respectively. Sullivan far outswam his seed as he was among the lowest seeded swimmers in that event but managed to finish in the middle of the pack. Myers took 59th in the 50 free.
With none of the five individuals from Saturday advancing onto Sunday's semifinals or finals, Saturday's action wrapped up the week-long stay for Penn State's 20 swimmers at Olympic Trials. Although a tremendous experience for all involved, none qualified for the Olympic games. Pat Schirk came the closest as he advanced to the finals in both the 100 and 200 backstroke events, but came up short of finishing in the top two in the finals as he finished eighth in both events.
The Nittany Lion swimmers, aside from the graduated seniors that competed at Trials, will now return to Happy Valley and begin preparations for the 2008-09 season under first-year head coach John Hargis, who officially began his duties at Penn State on Monday, July 7.
Complete results of Penn State's swimmers from Saturday are listed below
Women's 50 FreeMichelle Myers (59th - :26.29)
Men's 1500 FreeDavid Kraft (21st - 15:36.71)Dito Calderon (37th - 15:46.29)Chris Sullivan (38th - 15:46.71)Ben Ryan (73rd - 16:24.76)