Nov. 22, 2013
LEWISBURG, Pa. - T.J. Schenkel (Richboro, Pa.) earned his first win of the season in the men's three-meter diving competition on the opening day of the Bucknell Invitational. The Nittany Lions placed first and third in the competition and in the women's one-meter diving event PSU's Mackenzie Cornell (Germantown, Md.) and Meredith Harbison (Butler, Pa.) finished sixth and eighth respectively.
Lucas Kachurick (McKeesport, Pa.) and Schenkel qualified for the finals with the top two scores. Kachurick led the way with a mark of 325.00, the best score of his career in the event, and Schenkel turned in a then season best score of 311.30. In the final, Schenkel had the best performance of his career, posting a score of 355.15, shattering his personal record on the way to his third career win, second in the three-meter competition. Kachurick finished third with a score of 314.30.
In the women's one-meter event, Penn State's Harbison and Cornell each qualified in the top eight in the prelims, earning a spot in the evening final. Cornell qualified with a mark of 240.35 and then scored a 238.80 in the final to finish sixth, while Harbison posted a score of 233.05 in the afternoon followed by a 201.75 in the final to place eighth.
The men's three-meter prelims will be held on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. with the finals being a part of the 6 p.m. session that evening. The women will wrap up the invite with the one-meter diving prelims at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday and the finals will be held in the final session of the weekend, which is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. on Sunday evening.
After this weekend's competition, the divers won't return to competition until 2014, when the teams will travel to Naples, Fla. to take on the Florida Gators on January 4. The swimming team is set to compete in the Texas Invitational down in Austin, Texas from Dec. 5-7.