Feb. 19, 2009
Thursday Preliminary Heat Sheets
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The No. 15 women's swim team is in good shape after the preliminaries of the 500 freestyle, the 200 IM and the 50 free on this second day of competition in the Big Ten Championships. Eleven will advance to tonight's finals with two from the 200 IM, three from the 50 free and six from the 500 free.
Advancing in the 200 IM are junior Daphne Skelos (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) and senior Kaitlin O'Brien (Caldwell, N.J.). O'Brien reset her own school record in the event shaving .29 second off her personal best from the 2007 Princeton Invitational.
Junior Lyndsey Smith (Westminster, Md.) touched the wall in 2:02.78, improving her previous best from the OSU Invite in December by an impressive 2:03.04 seconds.
The 50 free finals will see juniors Michelle Myers (Boalsburg, Pa.) and Lindsey DeForrest (Wycombe, Pa.) as well as freshman Samantha Palser (Chester Springs, Pa.) from the Nittany Lion squad. DeForrest clocked in at 22.82 improving her to third all-time in the event, and also lowered her personal best by .27 seconds. Palser took a sizzling .62 seconds off her personal best with a time of 23.30 as she now sits just outside the all-time top 10. Myers continued her dominance in the event touching the wall in 22.60 to reset her school record to .11 seconds below her 2008 NCAA Championship time.
Freshmen Kristen Rodman (Lansdale, Pa.) and Katie Pulos (Rosemont, Pa.) set new personal bests in the event with Rodman coming in at 24.00 to take .54 seconds off her time at the Texas A&M dual on October 31, 2008, while Pulos clocked in at 23.88 which is .72 seconds lower than her time at the Ohio State dual three weeks ago.
Penn State is tied with defending Big Ten Champion Minnesota in sending six to the finals in the 500 free. Junior Kailey Morris (Baltimore, Md.) led the way for the Lions checking in a 4:42.51 taking two seconds off her personal best and jumping from sixth to second all-time in the Penn State record book. Senior Kelly Nelson (West Chester, Pa.) advances with a time of 4:44.41 while classmate Karie Haglund (Marrieta, Ga.) punched her ticket to the finals in 4:47.38. Not far behind was senior Sarah Baker (Fairfax, Va.) with her first individual NCAA "B" qualifying time of the year at 4:47.83 while also entering the top 10 of the Penn State record book. Also advancing to tonight's final is junior Stephanie Roop (Downingtown, Pa.) with a time of 4:49.81 and sophomore Diana Greco (West Chester, Pa.) touching the wall in 4:50.78.
Tonight's finals will begin at 6:30 with the 200 free relay followed by the 500 free, the 200 IM, the 50 free and one-meter diving. Fans can follow the action live by clicking here.