Feb. 29, 2012
Park Ridge, Ill. - Following one of the best showings in program history at the Big Ten Championships this year, six Penn State Women's Swimmers were named to First Team All-Big Ten. Junior Merritt Krawczyk (Kingwood, Texas), senior Samantha Palser (Chester Springs, Pa.), senior Erin Thomas (Bangor, Maine), senior Katie Pulos (Rosemont, Pa.), junior Paige Whitmire (Lederach, Pa.) and sophomore Mackenzie Powers (Sycamore, Ill.) all earned conference laurels. Senior Kristen Rodman (Lansdale, Pa.) was named the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award Winner for Penn State.
The Nittany Lions scored 379.5 points at this year's Big Ten Championships, which were held on the University of Iowa campus. The Nittany Lions won both the 400 medley relay and the 400 freestyle relay. In addition, Powers won the Big Ten title in the 100 butterfly.
On the last day of the championships, Penn State closed out the final event, the 400 freestyle relay, in record-setting fashion. Palser, Thomas, Pulos and Whitmire posted a time 3:16.12 to tie Wisconsin for first place. That time for the Lions was a school and pool record.
Powers had a big day for the Nittany Lions on Feb. 18, the third day of Big Tens. She was part of the 400 medley relay team that blew away the field and set a school and pool record for that event, earning a Big Ten medal. Joining Powers on that team was Whitmire, Krawczyk and Palser. The team earned time of 3:33.50 to earn the Big Ten title.
Powers' other Big Ten title came in the 100 butterfly, where she finished with a time of 52.25 seconds. That mark was a meet record and a pool record. Powers was seeded second going into the finals of the event.
The Nittany Lions will now await the selection bids for the NCAA Championships. Check back to GoPSUsports.com for continued updates throughout the 2011-12 season.