Dec. 3, 2011
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Penn State women's swimming and diving teams completed preliminary action. The Nittany Lions had 24 finals qualifiers on the day.
Penn State got off to a really strong start on the day over in the 400 IM relay, as junior Merrit Krawczyk (Kingwood, Texas), junior Amy Modglin (Fort Myers, Fla.) and sophomore Chelsea Weedman (Poway, Calif.) earned a two-three-four finish in the event and qualified for the finals with "b" standard times. In addition, sophomore Gabi Shishkoff (Franklin, Mass.), sophomore Claire Singley (Southlake, Texas) and senior Alexa Hetzel (Metuchen, N.J.) qualified for the finals.
In the 100 butterfly, sophomore Mackenzie Powers (Sycamore, Ill.) came up big, earning a "b" standard time of 54.04 seconds. Junior Paige Whitmire (Lederach, Pa.) and freshman Katelyn Miller (Hershey, Pa.) also earned finals qualifying times.
Senior Erin Thomas (Bangor, Maine) and Sam Palser (Chester Springs, Pa.) led the way for the Nittany Lions over in the 200 freestyle. Thomas and Palser posted times of 1:49.56 and 1:49.65 respectively to qualify for the finals. In addition, freshman Caitlyn Karr (Reading, Pa.) and senior Kristen Rodman (Lansdale, Pa.) qualified for the finals.
Weedman continued her strong day by earning a qualifying time of 1:03.07 in the 100 breastroke. Sophomore Rachel Butler (Lancaster, Pa.), Krawczyk, junior Amy Lewis (Rudloph, Wis.) and freshman Megan Miceli (Moorestown, N.J.) qualified for the finals.
Penn State's strongest preliminary event came in the 100 backstroke, as the Lions had seven qualifiers. In the night session, the Nittany Lions started the night with a second place in the 200 medley as Whitmire, Powers, Krawczyk and Palser earned a time of 1:40.19 and 34 team points for PSU. Weedman, Rodman, Thomas and Butler also earned 22 points for Penn State after finishing ninth.
Over in the 400 IM finals, Krawczyk, Modglin and Shishkoff had second, fifth and sixth place finishes respectively. The Nittany Lions earned a total of 44 points in that event, which was the highest of all the teams.
In the 100 butterfly, Powers and Whitmire had third and fifth place finishes, earning PSU 30 total points.
Check back to GoPSUsports.com for continued updates throughout the 2011 season.