Feb. 20, 2009
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Ten NCAA `B' times and two school records were registered in five events as the Penn State women's swimming and diving teams competed in the third day of finals at the Big Ten Swimming and Diving Championships on Friday in Ann Arbor, Mich. Penn State lies in third place with 289 points, eight ahead of fourth-place Michigan.
Kaitlyn Ferguson, Karie Haglund, Kelly Nelson and Michelle Myers each swam `B' times in one individual event and as part of a 400-yard medley relay squad that finished in fourth place with a time of 3:36.37. The foursome touched the wall two-hundreths of a second quicker than the previous school record set six years ago.
Kaitlin O'Brien set the second school record of the evening when she finished in third place in the 400 IM. Not only did she set a `B' time, the Caldwell, N.J. senior surpassed her own school record by .30 of a second at 4:08.10. Trailing behind O'Brien were Kailey Morris (4:11.94) and Daphne Skelos (4:13.92), who tabbed ninth and 10th, respectively, in a field that saw 15 swimmers draw consideration times.
Ferguson nabbed seventh in the 100 backstroke at 54.27, which was good for the third-fastest time in school history. Myers was shortly behind in 11th, earning her second NCAA time of the day at 54.43.
Lyndsey Smith also connected with the wall quicker than all but two swimmers in Penn State history as she earned a fifth-place nod in the 100 breaststroke at 1:00.95 for a `B' time. The Nittany Lions had three swimmers take in top 15 times. Haglund scored sixth at 1:01.44 with a `B' time, while Caitlin Meehan came in 15th at 1:03.11.
Sarah Baker and Nelson inked `B' times in the 200 freestyle. Baker came in sixth at 1:47.13 and beat her own personal best. Nelson swam the same time she earned in prelims, coming in seventh at 1:47.30.
Lauren Smart rounded out the Nittany Lion swimmers with a 21st-place tally. Her time of 55.14 was the eighth fastest in school history.
Indiana leads the field with 529 points. 2008 Big Ten Champion Minnesota stands in second with 457 points.
Competition wraps up tomorrow at 1:30 p.m., and finals begin at 6:30 p.m.