May 26, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Kelly Nelson, of the Penn State women's swimming and diving team, was selected to the ESPN the Magazine Women's At-Large Academic All-District 2 second team, along with Brandi Personett of the Nittany Lion women's gymnastics team.
Nelson obtains the laurel after putting the finishing touches on her collegiate career this season. The senior swimmer from West Chester, Pa. earned her eighth honorable-mention All-America nod, to go along with her lone All-America finish in 2007, at this year's NCAA Championships in College Station, Texas. She finished 12th in the 200-yard butterfly, setting a school record of 1:54.99 and secured a Top 16 mark in the 200 freestyle in record-fashion at 1:44.94. She is a three-time second-team All-Big Ten and leaves Penn State with more school records than any other swimmer in program history. Nelson graduates with a 3.65 GPA in kinesiology with an emphasis in movement sciences.
It is her second placing on the All-District 2 second team. Nelson previously made the team in 2008.
Nelson was competing for ten spots, on both the first and second teams, against women's at-large student-athletes in District 2, which consists of all Division I schools in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. Women's at-large programs includes the sports of bowling, crew, fencing, golf, gymnastics, field hockey, ice hockey, lacrosse, rifle, skiing, tennis and water polo.