Feb. 17, 2011
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Highlighted by record-breaking performances in the 50-freestyle, 200-individual medley, and 200-freestyle relay, the Penn State women's swimming & diving team continued its strong showing at the Big Ten Championships as the Nittany Lions saw three records fall and a slew of competitors eclipse NCAA 'B' standards on the second day of the conference meet at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center on Thursday night.
After the second day of action, Penn State now stands in sixth-place after earning 143 points. With 14 events still remaining, Indiana holds the top spot with 279 points, while Minnesota and Ohio State round out the top-three.
In the first event of the evening, the 200-freestyle relay team set the tone for the rest of the night. The foursome of Samantha Palser, Paige Whitmire, Erin Thomas, and Katie Pulos completed the event in 1:29.64, which placed them second in the field and set a new school record. Their performance also marked the first time since 2002 that Penn State placed its 200-freestyle relay team in the top-three at the Big Ten Championships.
In the 200-IM, Merritt Krawczyk led the way in the finals after placing sixth with a time of 1:59.56. Chelsea Weedman was on her heels the entire way, placing eighth overall after an exceptional performance earlier in the day. During the preliminaries, Weedman set a torrid pace with a time of 1:58.40, which topped the previous school record of 1:58.50 set by Kaitlyn O'Brien in 2009.
Penn State also placed a pair of competitors in the 'A' finals of the 50-freestyle. After strong performances during the preliminaries, Whitmire and Palser both placed in the top-eight. Whitmire led the way, finishing fifth with a school-record time of 22.57. Palser was close behind, touching the wall in eighth after completing the course in 22.74. Their times, along with Pulos' mark of 23.01 in the preliminaries, all reached the NCAA 'B' standard.
In other events, Amy Modglin was the top Nittany Lion in the 500-freestyle after placing 15th in the competitive field. During the event, she recorded a new personal-best in the preliminaries with a time of 4:47.38 before clocking in at 4:49.71 during the finals.
In the lone diving event of the day, Megan Marco posted the team's top score after recording a 225.50 mark. Eventually, she placed 32nd in the field, while teammate Ilana Zeises finished 37th.
The competition will continue tomorrow with seven finals on the third day of the meet. Champions will be crowned in the 100-fly, 200-free, 100-breaststroke, 100-backstroke, 400-medley relay, and 3-meter dive. Preliminaries are slated for 11 a.m. with finals kicking off at 6:30.