Dec. 3, 2010
Athens, Ga. - The Penn State women's swimming & diving team capped off the first day of the Georgia Invitational with a strong showing as the squad road a slew of NCAA 'B' standards to a third-place showing on Friday evening at the Gabrielsen Natatorium.
Following the first day of the three-day event, the host Bulldogs have the overall lead with 378 points. Auburn is second with 232, followed by Penn State (171), Virginia (127), Kansas (106), Harvard (99), and Minnesota (62).
In the first event of the day, the 200-freestyle relay team set the tone with a third-place showing. The foursome of Erin Thomas, Sam Palser, Paige Whitmire, and Hailey Campbell cruised to a time of 1:30.98, which eclipsed the NCAA 'B' standard by nearly two full seconds.
Whitmire later returned to the pool and placed sixth in the 50-freestyle. During the discipline, she posted a 'B' standard with a time of 22.99.
In the 200-IM, Merritt Krawczyk finished fifth in a strong field of competitors. During the event, she touched the wall in 2:00.85, which beat the provisional qualifying time for the NCAA meet. Diana Greco continued her strong season in the distance freestyles as well as she topped the NCAA 'B' standard in the 500-free with a time of 4:50.30 which placed her eighth in the field.
In the lone diving event held on the first day of competition, Megan Marco was the top Penn State finisher after placing 11th with a score of 222.10.
The Nittany Lions will return to action tomorrow when the second day of the invitational kicks off at 9:30 a.m.