Feb. 5, 2015
| PENN STATE @ Virginia Tech Invite |
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Sat. Feb. 7 | Sun. Feb. 8 |
| Christiansburg Aquatic Center| Christiansburg, Va. |
Top Times: Men
| MEET LINKS |
TV: ESPN2 -->Swimming and Diving BlogFollow Us: @PennStateSWIM | Facebook | InstagramMeet Central
| Women Top Times: Men |Women
| Live Results | MeetMobile App |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's and women's swimming and diving teams will compete in their final meet before the Big Ten Championship, traveling south of the Mason Dixon Line this weekend for the Virginia Tech Invitational Saturday and Sunday.
Like last week's Bison Invite for the women's swimmers, the primary focus will be on getting individuals prepared mentally and physically for the conference championship. Rest is more important for some this week, while getting acclimated to the format of morning preliminaries and evening finals is a priority for others. Most of the men's team will compete, while roughly a fifth of the women's squad will compete.
Both teams have not competed in an open invite simultaneously since early December when they both finished fifth at the three-day Georgia Invite in Athens. This time around, PSU will take part in the two-day event starting on Saturday, Feb. 7 and wrap up competition on Sunday, Feb. 8.
Events get underway in Christiansburg, Va., at 10 a.m., Saturday with preliminary competition, and they will wrap-up on Sunday at 4 p.m. with the finals. Joining Penn State down south will be host Virginia Tech, Virginia, Towson, the College of Charleston as well as Arkansas.
Live results of the event are available by going to hokiesports.com or by downloading the MeetMobile App.
LAST TIME OUT
Previously, the men defeated Navy 173-127, on Senior Day at McCoy Natatorium (Jan. 24). Junior Shane Ryan stole the spotlight from his senior counterparts and finished first in a total of three individual events, while senior diver T.J. Schenkel won both the one and three meter to push the team's dual record to 6-3.
Only the men's divers were in action last week at the Bison Invite as senior T.J. Shenkel won gold in the three meter (275.45), while freshman Travis Wright was first in the one meter with his season best score of 321.65.
A portion of the women's team competed at the Bison Invite last week, and they were dominant, taking gold in four out of the five swimming events, while Mackenzie Cornell (Germantown, Md.) swept the two diving events. Cornell posted a career-best off of the 3-meter board, totaling 303.15, and the Lion dominance in the freestyle continued as the Blue and White claimed the top five places in the 100.
EVENT HISTORY
This weekend marks the second time this season the Lions will compete at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center as they traveled there for the Virginia Tech Challenge (Oct. 18), to take on the Hokies, Liberty, Old Dominion and James Madison. Previously the men's and women's teams competed at the CAC for the NCAA Zone A qualifying last season and squared off in a dual vs. VT on Halloween, 2009.
NEXT UP
This will be the final tune-up before the Big Ten Championships. The women's championship will be contested Feb. 18-21 in Columbus, while the men's will be contested Feb. 25-28 in Iowa City.