March 16, 2011
AUSTIN, Texas - The Penn State women's swimming team will kick off the NCAA Swimming & Diving National Championships on Thursday when the squad hits the pool for the first day of the three-day competition at the Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.
During the meet, champions will be crowned in 21 events. Of those, the Nittany Lions had at least one swimmer qualify or earn an invitation to compete in 17 disciplines.
The championships will begin with preliminaries on Thursday at 11 a.m. During the first finals session beginning later that evening at 7 p.m., champions will be determined in the 200-freestyle relay, 500-freestyle, 200-IM, 50-freestyle, 1-meter dive, and 400-medley relay.
The following evening, finals will be held for the 200-medley relay, 400-IM, 100-fly, 200-freestyle, 100-breaststroke, 100-back, 3-meter dive, and 800-freestyle relay. On Saturday, the championships will conclude with the finals in platform diving as well as the 1650-free, 200-back, 100-free, 200-breastroke, 200-fly, and 400-freestyle relay.
The top-eight finishers in each event will earn first-team All-American honors, while the next eight will garner honorable mention accolades.
All-session passes are available for $65, while individual tickets will cost $10 for preliminaries and $15 for the finals.
For those who cannot make it to Texas, live results will be available online through the NCAA website. ESPN3.com will also air a video stream during the finals on Friday and Saturday.
Sophomore sensation Amy Modglin has the highest seed entering the meet as she ranks 13th nationally in the 200-backstroke. A year after earning honorable mention All-American honors for her performance in the event, she looks to eclipse her 16th-place showing during the 2010 competition.
In other individual events, Mackenzie Powers stands 21st nationally in the 100-fly, while Alexandra Young ranks 26th in the 200-yard discipline. Penn State also looks strong in the 200-IM with Chelsea Weedman ranked 25th in the event and Merritt Krawczyk sitting 26th overall.
The Nittany Lions also boast several strong relay teams. Penn State's 200-freestyle foursome is 13th nationally, while the squad also ranks in the top-20 in the 200-medley, 400-freestyle, and 400-medley relays.
Overall, nine members of the Penn State women's swimming team will participate in the national meet. Only 15 teams in the country will be represented by as many as nine competitors. Indiana and Minnesota are the only Big Ten schools that will send more swimmers than PSU.