Oct. 20, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; October 20, 2012 -- A three victory night from Gabi Shishkoff helped lead the way for the women's swimming and diving squad in their 146-97 victory at West Virginia on Friday (Oct. 19) evening. It was the ninth straight victory for the Nittany Lions against West Virginia and is the eighth straight season-opening dual meet victory for the Blue and White in the pool.
Penn State won eight of the 13 events in the pool on the evening and posted a one-two finish in five of those. The diving portion of the meet took place on Monday with Megan Springsteen (Owego, N.Y.) and Emily Stotesbury scoring the first six points for the team.
After posting just two individual event victories during her first two seasons on campus, Gabi Shishkoff (Franklin, Mass.) was a big reason that the Nittany Lions started the season on a winning note. The junior won three events, claiming the 1000 free with a career-best time of 9:55.73, winning the 400 IM in 4:20.01and touching first in the 200 fly with a time of 2:02.10. Shishkoff and WVU's Rachael Burnett were the only two multiple event winners at the meet, with each winning three events on the night.
The 200 medley relay team of Mackenzie Powers (Sycamore, Ill.), Merritt Krawczyk (Kingswood, Texas), Carolyn Fittin (Sea Girt, N.J.) and Katelyn Miller (Hershey, Pa.) opened the meet with a winning swim in a time of 1:43.98 and the quartet of Brynja Winnan (West Windsor, N.J.), Grace Nicesling (Spring, Texas), Kathryn Rowe (Schenectady, N.J.) and Alyson Ackman (Montreal, Quebec) came in just behind the winners at 1:46.72 to claim second place and push the team out to an early lead. Shishkoff followed with her first victory of the evening in the 1000 free.
West Virginia won the 200 freestyle, but Penn State piled on more points by taking the next three spots when Caitlyn Karr (Reading, Pa.), Kaitlin Jones (Midlothian, Va.) and Amy Modglin (Ft. Myers, Fla.) touched, respectively. Whitmore and Fitting followed with first and second place finishes in the 50 free, clocking times of 23.88 and 24.20, respectively. A clean sweep of the 400 IM continued to pile points into PSU's column, with Shishkoff claiming the top spot. Krawczyk touched second, followed by Modglin and Chelsea Weedman (Poway, Calif.).
After the second intermission, Shishkoff won the 200 fly, while Weedman touched third in the race with a time of 2:03.21 and Powers came in fourth at 2:04.56. Karr and Miller placed second and third, respectively, in the 100 free before Modglin won her only event of the meet with a time of 1:58.46 in the 200 back. Megan Siverling (Havertown, Pa.) placed second in the 500 free in a time of 4:59.34 and Jones placed third in 5:00.86.
Krawczyk and Weedman claimed the top two places in the 200 breast in 2:19.32 and 2:22.62, respectively to close out the individual events before the Nittany Lions claimed the 400 free relay to close out the meet. Jones, Whitmire, Fitting and Karr teamed up to top the field by over four seconds in 3:28.60.
The next meet on the schedule will come around on Nov. 10 when Penn State opens the home portion of the schedule versus Villanova. The Nittany Lions and Wildcats will square off at 11:00 a.m. in the McCoy Natatorium.
Individual Event Winners
200 Medley Relay, 1:43.98 (M. Powers, M. Krawczyk, C. Fittin, K. Miller)
1000 Free; Gabi Shishkoff, 9:55.73
50 Free; Paige Whitmire, 23.88
400 IM; Gabi Shishkoff, 4:20.01
200 Fly; Gabi Shishkoff, 2:02.10
200 Back; Amy Modglin, 1:58.46
200 Breast; Merritt Krawczyk, 2:19.32
400 Free Relay, 3:28.60 (K. Jones, P. Whitmire, C. Fittin, C. Karr)
--NITTANY LIONS--