March 14, 2012
AUBURN, Ala. - Following one of the best showings in program history at the Big Ten Championships this year, seven Penn State Women's Swimmers will compete at the 2012 NCAA Swimming Championships in Auburn, Ala. starting on Thursday and continuing through Saturday. Preliminaries begin each day at 11 a.m. and finals will start each evening at 7 p.m. A total of 324 swimmers and divers from 71 schools will compete in the three-day meet.
Fans interested in tickets can pay $65 each at the James E. Martin Aquatics Center ticket office beginning at 9:30 a.m. Thursday. In addition, single-session, standing-room-only tickets will be available prior to each session. Prices for those tickets will be $10 for preliminaries and $15 for finals.
ESPN3 will carry a live broadcast of the finals sessions on Friday and Saturday. The remaining four sessions will be streamed live on CBSSports.com. Links can be found on the schedule page on GoPSUSports.com
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.) and sophomore Chelsea Weedman (Poway, Calif.) will compete at this year's Championships. The Nittany Lions scored 379.5 points at this year's Big Ten Championships, which were held on the University of Iowa campus. Penn State 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.
Check back to GoPSUsports.com for continued updates throughout the 2011-12 season.
Thursday, March 15 11 a.m. -- Prelims -200 freestyle relay -500 freestyle -200 individual medley -50 freestyle -400 medley relay 1:30 p.m. -- 1-meter diving prelims 3:30 p.m. -- 1-meter diving consolation 7 p.m. -- Finals -200 freestyle relay -500 freestyle -200 individual medley -1-meter diving -400 medley relay.
Friday, March 16 11 a.m. -- Prelims -200 medley relay -400 individual medley -100 butterfly -200 freestyle -100 breaststroke -100 backstroke 1:30 p.m. --3-meter diving prelims 3:30 p.m. --3-meter diving consolation 7 p.m. -- Finals -200 medley relay -400 individual medley -100 butterfly -200 freestyle -100 breaststroke -100 backstroke -3-meter diving -800 freestyle relay (timed finals)
Saturday, March 17 11 a.m. -- Prelims -200 backstroke -100 freestyle -200 breaststroke -200 butterfly -400 freestyle relay 1:30 p.m. -- Platform diving prelims 3 p.m. -- Platform diving consolation 5 p.m. (approx.) -- 1650 freestyle (all but fastest heat) 7 p.m. -- Finals -1650 freestyle (fastest heat) -200 backstroke -100 freestyle -200 breaststroke -200 butterfly -Platform diving -400 freestyle relay