Jan. 14, 2015
| PENN STATE VS. RUTGERS / YALE | |
Fri., Jan. 16 - 5 p.m. ET | |
| Werblin Recreation Center| Piscataway, N.J. | |
| MEET DAY LINKS |
TV: ESPN2 -->Swimming and Diving BlogFollow Us: @PennStateSWIM | Facebook | InstagramMeet Central
LIVE RESULTS: Web | MeetMobile App
Live Video (Saturday Only): scarletknights.com
Penn State Info: Men | Women
Opponent Info: Yale | Men | Rutgers | Women
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -
Fresh off their annual training trip to Florida, Penn State swimmers and divers will be back in action this weekend as they take on Rutgers and Yale in separate dual meets. Competition begins Friday evening in New Jersey and wraps up with the final events set to take place on Saturday morning, with the women squaring off against their newly minted Big Ten rivals and the men competing against the Ivy league school from Connecticut.
This will be the Lions first official competitive swim since their appearance in the Georgia Fall Invite, Dec. 5 - 7 in Athens and their first dual meet since the Virginia/Michigan double-dual Nov. 7-8 at McCoy Natatorium.
The Penn State women enter their first meet of 2015 with an 8-1 mark, having finished fifth in their last true competition, with a total of 363 points at the Georgia Invite. They are ranked No. 17 in the nation in the latest CSCAA poll, released Jan. 15th. The men stand at 5-2, having also finished fifth in Athens, but with a 331.5 score and are ranked No. 22 in the nation by CollegeSwimming.com as of Jan. 11th.
Head coach Tim Murphy has seen his men's team finish first in events a total of 29 times this season, while the women have crossed the finish line ahead of the pack on 32 occasions, including a record breaking performance by Megan Siverling (Chester Springs, Pa.), who set a new school record in the 500 free with her 4:41.86 performance during preliminaries on Day 1 of the fall invitational in Athens, Ga.
Both squads are back in cold climates following their week plus winter break working vacation in Naples, Fla., where they engaged in beach workouts, ocean swims and overall preparation for the remainder of the 2014-15 schedule.
THE EVENT
The Penn State women will take on Rutgers and the men will compete against Yale starting at 5 p.m., Friday at RU's Werblin Recreation Center with competition wrapping up Saturday morning at 11 a.m. Saturday's meet will be streamed live online via scarletknights.com. Live results are also available through the MeetMobile app.
SERIES HISTORY
The women will be taking on the Scarlett Knights for the 15th time. The Lion women hold a 12-2 advantage over their new conference foes since their first meeting in 1977. This will be the two's first meeting as Big Ten schools and their first overall since 2008-09 when they met seven times in eight seasons.
The Penn State men are 0-0 all-time against Yale as this weekend's meet will mark the first time the two have competed in the pool.
LAST TIME OUT
Head coach Tim Murphy's squad was one of nine teams to compete at the Georgia Fall Invite in Athens (Dec. 5-7). Both the men and the women finished fifth in the three-day event with the women earning 363 points and the men posting 331.5 total.
NEXT UP
Penn State will return to Happy Valley for its annual senior day celebration, Saturday, Jan. 24 vs Navy at McCoy Natatorium. The meet will start at 11 a.m., but ceremonies will begin at approximately 10:40 as the program says goodbye to a total of 13 seniors, five on the women's side and eight on the men's.