Feb. 8, 2014
COLUMBUS, Ohio -
Ohio State Invitational | Columbus, Ohio. • The Bill and Mae McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion | No. 19 Penn State |
The Penn State women's swimming team turned in a dominant performance in the first day of the Ohio State Invitational, registering wins five of the six events held on Saturday. The day was full of personal records as each swimmer hit either a season or career-best mark in either the prelims or the finals of their individual events.
Freshman Kerry Treusdell (Churchville, Md.) kicked things off for the Blue and White, claiming first in the 500 free with a season-best time of 4:54.02. Fellow freshman Bridget Moody (Port Washington, N.Y.) followed Treusdell, registering a second place finish in 4:56.20. Moody notched a personal-best time earlier in the day in the prelims, touching the wall in 4:55.04.
Hannah Matheson (Skillman, N.J.) topped the field in the 100 fly, clocking in at a season-best 55.45 and Annie Valentine (Dearborn, Mich.) came in second, posting a personal-best time of 57.37.
Sara Somers (Haverford, Pa.) also set a season-best time in her event and earned a spot atop the podium. The senior out-swam the competition in the prelims and the finals of the 100 breaststroke, recording a top time of 1:04.94 in the qualifying round and finishing first in the finals in 1:05.35.
Jenna Bickel (Slingerlands, N.UY) continued to show improvement in the 100 backstroke, turning in a season-best time of 55.64 to claim first in the event.
Allie Pennetti (Wexford, Pa.) closed out the day of competition with a career-best time of 51.53 in the 100 free to earn first place.
The Nittany Lions return to the pool on Sunday for the final day of the Ohio State Invitational. Up next for the Lions are the Big Ten Championships, which are set to begin on Wednesday, Feb. 19 and conclude on Saturday, Feb. 22 in Minneapolis, Minn.