Feb. 27, 2011
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Hailey Campbell and the 200-freestyle relay team both eclipsed NCAA `B' standards on Sunday afternoon as several members of the Penn State women's swimming squad competed in the Last Chance Meet hosted by Ohio State at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion.
In an effort to improve their national standing in preparation for the upcoming NCAA Championships, the Nittany Lions had three outstanding performances during an un-scored qualifying meet. Hailey Campbell, Katie Pulos, and the 200-freestyle relay team all looked sharp in their tune-up for the national meet.
During the first event of the day, the team of Paige Whitmire, Samantha Palser, Erin Thomas, and Pulos swam uncontested in the 200-freestyle relay and sped to a time of 1:30.79 during the preliminaries before settling in at 1:31.04 in the finals. The foursome, which placed second in the event during the Big Ten Championships, ranks among the top-15 nationally.
In the 100-freestyle, Pulos returned to the pool and recorded the third-fastest time of the day after completing the course in 50.95 during the preliminaries. That pace just missed the provisional qualifying time for the NCAA meet.
Campbell rounded out the day with another strong effort in the 100-backstroke. After finishing sixth in the event during the Big Ten Championships, she posted her personal best time on Sunday after clocking in at 53.87 during the preliminaries. Later, she placed second in the finals with a time of 54.72. Both times easily trumped the NCAA `B' standard.
Penn State will wrap up the year in two weeks when the Nittany Lions travel to Austin, Texas for the NCAA Championships from March 17-19.