Dec. 7, 2008
Complete Women's Results Complete Men's Results
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Patrick Schirk took his second first-place finish of the weekend as the Penn State women's and men's swimming and diving teams qualified four and five NCAA `B' qualifying times, respectively, at the third and final day of the Ohio State Invitational Sunday.
The Nittany Lion women's swimming team, which was without its divers who were competing at Rutgers, placed second out of 11 teams. The men's squad took third out of 10 schools.
Schirk swam in first in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:43.64. His victory was the second of the weekend as he won the 100 backstroke earlier in the competition.
Kelly Nelson added to her stellar weekend by taking the 200 butterfly event in a time of 1:56.54. She hit the marks one second ahead of her competition, setting a meet record and an NCAA `B' time in the process. Kailey Morris took third in the event and set a `B' time of 1:59.09. Penn State had four finishers in the 200 fly. Alex Young and Karie Haglund took fifth and seventh, respectively.
Nelson qualified her second `B' time of the day when her 400-free relay team of Lindsey DeForrest, Sarah Baker and Michelle Myers came in second at 3:19.52. Earlier in the weekend, the West Chester, Pa. native had two second- and a third-place finish in relay events, while also taking third in the 200 freestyle.
Kaitlin O'Brien also paved her way to NCAAs in the 200 breaststroke. She came in at 2:14.27 in a third placing.
Penn State nearly added another qualifying time when Daphne Skelos touched the wall at 1:58.57, .67 away from being a `B' time. Skelos took third in the 200 backstroke.
In the 1650 freestyle, Diana Greco swam fourth against stiff Minnesota long-distance competition. Mired in a dead heat with the Golden Gophers' Kristen Steenvoorden, Greco swam a complete second faster than Steenvoorden in the final turn to finish ahead.
DeForrest, Myers and Baker raced seven one-hundredths of a second between one another as the trio tabbed fourth through sixth in the 100 free.
Minnesota won the invitational overwhelmingly, as the diver-less Nittany Lion squad was second amongst the five Big Ten schools in competition. Penn State was nearly 500 points ahead of the third-place Notre Dame. On the men's side, Penn State finished behind two conference teams - Ohio State and Minnesota - ahead of two sets of swimmers, Purdue and Indiana, it will see at the Big Ten Championships in West Lafayette, Ind.
Tim Williams set a meet record as he swam the top time, 1:44.61, in the 200 butterfly.
The Nittany Lions registered three long-distance NCAA `B' times in the 1650 free. Chris Sullivan, David Kraft and Dito Calderon were apart of a quick field that saw the top eight qualify.
The women's diving team did not travel to Columbus, Ohio. It competed in the Rutgers Diving Invite in Piscataway, N.J. this weekend.
Penn State will not compete until after the turn of the year. The Nittany Lions mark up against Florida-Gulf Coast and Indian River Community College in its annual winter trip to the Sunshine State on Jan. 3, 2009.
Notes: Tim Williams broke the school record in the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:44.61....The women's 400 relay team of Kelly Nelson, Lindsey DeForrest, Michelle Myers and Sarah Baker broke the school record for that event, finishing the race in 3:19.52.