Jan. 17, 2014
VILLANOVA, Pa. - The No. 17 Penn State women's swimming and diving team turned in an exceptional performance on Friday evening, earning top marks in 14-of-16 events to claim a 166-118 victory over Villanova at the Villanova Swim Complex. The Nittany Lions are now 2-2 in dual competitions this season.
The women's 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle relay squads each posted top times in their events. The 200 medley team of Alyson Ackman (Montreal, Quebec) Haley Sinatro (West Hartford, Conn.) Mackenzie Hornibrook (West Chester, Pa.) and Katelyn Miller(Hershey, Pa.) set the tone for the Blue and White, finishing first in the opening event with a time of 1:45.28. The same quartet closed out the meet in similar fashion, notching the top mark in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:35.38.
Each of the relay swimmers found success in the individual events as well. Ackman claimed first in the 100 backstroke, clocking in at 56.84, Sinatro touched the wall in 1:06.99 for the top finish in the 100 breaststroke, Hornibrook turned in fastest time in the 100 butterfly at 57.11 and Miller placed first in the 50 free with a time of 23.77.
Megan Siverling (Chester Springs, Pa.) registered two victories on the day, recording a time of 10:05.55 in the 1000 free and a mark of 4:53.42 in the 500 free. Chelsea Vanderweele(Silver Spring, Md.) also swam to a first place finish, clocking in at 1:52.57 in the 200 free.
Freshmen Katelyn Sowinski (Severna Park, Md.), Stefanie Schmidt (Victoria, British Columbia) and Taylor Kramer(Naperville, Ill.) posted top marks in their respective events as well. Sowinski touched the wall in 2:02.35 in the 200 butterfly, Schmidt turned in a time of 2:04.38 in the 200 backstroke and Kramer registered a season-best score of 222.07 on the one-meter board.
Senior Chelsea Weedman (Poway, Calif.) turned in a season-best performance in the 200 breaststroke, claiming first place in 2:19.30, over a second faster than her previous best of 2:20.40 and Gabi Shishkoff(Franklin, Mass.) closed out the individual events with the 400 IM time at 4:20.40.
The Blue and White return to action next Saturday, traveling to Navy. The meet is slated for an 11 a.m. start. Penn State hosts its second and final home meet of the season on Saturday, Feb. 2. The Lions will welcome St. Bonaventure and Towson for a tri-meet starting at 1 p.m.