Feb. 24, 2013
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; February 23, 2013-- The Nittany Lions closed out the 2013 Big Ten Championships with a third place finish on Saturday, Feb. 23 at the University Aquatic Center at the University of Minnesota. Penn State watched as Alyson Ackman (Montreal, Quebec) and Paige Whitmire (Lederach, Pa.) both earned first team All-Big Ten and the trio of Carolyn Fittin (Sea Grit, N.J.), Merritt Krawczyk (Kingwood, Texas) and Katelyn Miller (Hershey, Pa.) all garnered second team All-Big Ten.
A pair of school records fell on the final day of the Championships, bringing the total number of school records set this weekend to six. The first school standard to fall on the evening was set in the finals of the 100 freestyle when Whitmire brought home the individual title in a program best time of 48.74 to top a competitive field. Ackman placed fifth in the race and also posted a sub-49 second time, touching the wall in a career-best 48.93, while Carolyn Fittin finished eighth in the A Finals with a mark of 49.40 after swimming a personal-best 49.24 in the prelims.
Freshman have accounted for three of those school records after Melissa Rodriguez (Chihuahua, Mexico) blazed the lanes to the tune of a school standard 2:10.70 in the prelims of the 200 breaststroke. The rookie then grabbed a sixth place finish in the event with a time of 2:11.29 as the only competitor in the A Finals. Krawczyk continued her successful senior campaign with a 16th place fining in the event with a season-best time of 2:14.66 in the prelims and a 2:16.64 in the B Finals. Freshman Hailey Sinatro (West Hartford, Conn.) set a career-best time in the finals when she swam 2:17.53 in the C Finals to claim a 22nd place finish overall in the event.
Freshman Alyson Ackman earned first team All-Big Ten honors during the championships over the weekend |
The third NCAA A Cut time of the weekend was claimed by the quartet of Ackman, Fittin, Miller and Whitmire in the 400 freestyle relay. A second place showing for the Nittany Lions in 3:16.15 was just shy of the school record in the event (3:16.12), but was good enough to gain an automatic qualifying time for the NCAA Championships.
The University of Minnesota won the team title with 831.5 points, followed by Indiana (671.5 pts) in second and Penn State (498.5) in third place. Ohio State scored 384 points to finish four, Purdue notched 363 points for a fifth place showing and Michigan's 309 points placed sixth overall. Wisconsin (249), Northwestern (203.5), Nebraska (195) and Iowa (113) rounded out the ten. Illinois and Michigan State rounded out the team scoring as they tied for 11th with 56 apiece.
Amy Modglin (Fort Myers, Fla.) placed fourth overall in the finals of the 200 backstroke where she boasted a time of 1:54.75 in the prelim before swimming 1:55.18 in the finals. A pair of freshman set career-best times in the prelims of the event, with Katie Rowe (Glenville, N.Y.) clocking a qualifying swim of 1:56.80 and Casey Fazio (Washington, N.J.) notching a personal-best 1:57.65. Rowe finished 12th overall with a B Finals time of 1L57.41, while Fazio touched in 1:58.06 in the C Finals to finish 20th in the race.
Chelsea Weedman (Poway, Calif.) finished off a very successful Big Ten Championship showing with a fifth place showing in the 200 butterfly as she swam a season and team-best time of 1:57.68 in the finals. Rowe also qualified for the A Finals after clocking a career-best time of 1:57.7 in the prelims and swimming 1:58.96 in the finals to place eighth overall.
The 1,650 freestyle featured another solid showing in a distance event when the sophomore Megan Siverling (Chester Springs, Md.) boasted a seventh place finish with a career and team-best mark of 16:24.68.
First Team All-Big Ten
Haley Lips, Indiana
Cynthia Pammett, Indiana
Brooklyn Snodgrass, Indiana
Dorina Szekeres, Indiana
Lindsay Vrooman, Indiana
Tess Behrens, Minnesota
Erin Caflisch, Minnesota
Maggie Keefer, Minnesota
Tori Simenec, Minnesota
Haley Spencer, Minnesota
Lauren Votava, Minnesota
Becca Weiland, Minnesota
Blake Zeiger, Minnesota
Shannon Draves, Ohio State
Alyson Ackman, Penn State
Paige Whitmire, Penn State
Ivy Martin, Wisconsin
Second Team All-Big Ten
Sara Delay, Indiana
Brenna Maclean, Indiana
Ashley Specht, Indiana
Sam Harding, Minnesota
Kiera Janzen, Minnesota
Jessica Plant, Minnesota
Kierra Smith, Minnesota
Devin Ste. Marie, Minnesota
Lauren Weis, Minnesota
Taylor Reynolds, Northwestern
Kelsey Moran, Ohio State
Angela Severn, Ohio State
Michelle Williams, Ohio State
Carolyn Fittin, Penn State
Merritt Krawczyk, Penn State
Katelyn Miller, Penn State
Lauren Gustafson, Purdue
Casey Matthews, Purdue
Mackenzie Tweardy, Purdue
Swimmer of the Championships
Lindsay Vrooman, Indiana
Diver of the Championships
Maggie Keefer, Minnesota
Swimming Coach of the Year
Kelly Kremer, Minnesota
Diving Coach of the Year
Wenbo Chen, Minnesota
Freshman of the Year
Brooklyn Snodgrass, Indiana
--NITTANY LIONS--