Dec. 1, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; December 1, 2012 -- Seven NCAA B Cut times highlighted day two of the Georgia Fall Invitational for the Nittany Lions, with three coming in the 400 IM. Merritt Krawczyk (Kingwood, Texas) boasted a pair of NCAA provisional times, while Alyson Ackman (Montreal, Quebec) grabbed one individual and was a part of one NCAA B Cut relay mark.
The 400 IM highlighted the day for the Nittany Lions with three more NCAA B Cut times being posted. Junior Gabi Shishkoff (Franklin, Mass.) led the charge for the Blue and White and posted a pair of career-best times, finishing third overall in the finals. Shishkoff swam 4:13.20 in the prelims - a provisional NCAA qualifying mark - before lowering her career time to 4:09.92 and finishing third overall in the finals. Her time in the finals was nearly eight seconds faster than her previous career-best set at the Big Ten Championships last season.
Krawczyk came through with a pair of NCAA provisional times, one coming in the 400 IM and the other in the 100 breast. The senior swam 4:14.79 in the prelims to finish ninth and her time of 4:13.76 set a new career-best and was an NCAA B Cut mark, helping her place eighth overall in the event. Her second event of the afternoon was a season-best performance in the 100 breast. She touched the wall in 1:01.42 to place fourth in the finals of the event. It was her second NCAA B Cut performance of the day.
The same two events provided the same outcome for junior Chelsea Weedman (Poway, Calif.). She claimed a career-best time in the 100 breast, finishing No. 12 in the finals in a time of 1:02.37. In the 400 IM, Weedman grabbed a tenth place showing with a mark of 4:12.92 to finish 10th in the finals.
Ackman collected her second NCAA B Cut time of the year on Saturday after grabbing her first career provisional mark last night. The freshman boasted a career-best performance in the 200 free, where the rookie finished seventh overall by touching the wall in 1:46.15.
Mackenzie Powers (Sycamore, Ill.) was the No. 7 finisher in the 100 fly by swimming 54.36 in the finals of the event. The junior swam a season-best time of 54.03 in the prelims to post her first NCAA B Cut time of the year.
The Nittany Lions ended the meet on another high note when the 800 free relay team became the first relay squad of the season to grab an NCAA provisional mark. Ackman and Shishkoff teamed with Kaitlin Jones (Midlothian, Va.)and Caitlyn Karr (Reading, Pa.) to swim 7:08.26 and finish fourth in the final swimming event of day two.
Host Georgia continues to lead on the team leaderboards with 694 points, followed by Cal with 648 points and Virginia with 391 points, Auburn has broken the tie with the Nittany Lions, sitting in fourth with 365 points, while Penn State is fifth with 321 points. Harvard sits in sixth (190 pts) and Virginia Tech (91 pts) rounds out the women's scores.
The Georgia Fall Invitational will conclude on Sunday, Dec. 2 with the semifinals and finals of seven events will be contested inside the Gabrielsen Natatorium.
--NITTANY LIONS--