Nov. 18, 2008
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State senior Katelyn O'Brien (Caldwell, N.J.) collected the Big Ten's Women's Swimmer of the Week honor for the week of Nov. 18, conference officials announced Tuesday. O'Brien qualified for the NCAA Championships in two events and took first three times against two of the top swimming programs in the nation this weekend in Charlottesville, Va.
O'Brien claims her first career weekly accolade. It is the first swimmer of the week for the Nittany Lion women's swimming team since Kelly Nelson won it on Jan. 29.
O'Brien garnered three first-place finishes last weekend as the Nittany Lions split a tri-meet with No. 10 Virginia and No. 22 Florida State. The senior collected two NCAA `B' cut times in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:15.13) and 400 individual medley (4:15.19). Her winning 200 individual medley time of 2:01.50 was less than one second off of the NCAA qualifying standard.
The Caldwell, N.J., native added additional points in the 1,000 freestyle by placing second, touching the wall at 9:54.63. O'Brien takes home her first career weekly accolade.
Purdue's Ashley Beal took the diver of the week award.
Penn State competes again during the weekend of Dec. 5-7 when it travels to Columbus, Ohio to participate in the Ohio State Invitational. The divers will be splitting up to attend the Rutgers Diving Invite in Piscataway, N.J.