March 20, 2015
| PENN STATE @ NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS | |
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| Greensboro Aquatic Center | Greensboro, N.C. | |
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GREENSBORO, N.C. - Alyson Ackman (Montreal, Quebec) gave Penn State its second individual top-10 finish and led the 800-yard freestyle relay team to a seventh-place finish in school-record time Friday at the 2015 NCAA Women's Swimming Championships at the Greensboro Aquatic Center. As a team, the Nittany Lions rank 17th with 50 points.
Ackman ultimately swam three 200 frees that were faster than her season best. To cap the night, she led off the 800 free relay with a team-best 200 split of 1:44.29. Kaitlyn Jones (Midlothian, Va.), Carolyn Fittin (Sea Girt, N.J.), and Caitlyn Karr (Reading, Pa.) followed in order, setting a new school standard of 7:03.07 that bested the record set just a month ago at the Big Ten Championships.
Ackman's best 200 free time came earlier in the evening when she touched the wall in 1:43.79 in the 'B' final of the race, which was just two-tenths of a second shy of her own school-record. She finished in 1:44.20 in the preliminaries in the morning to rank 12th before moving up two places in the finals.
Individually, Ackman was the lone Lion to advance to the finals Friday. She was joined in the 200 free prelims in the morning by Megan Siverling (Chester Springs, Pa.), who finished in 1:49.58. Additionally, Casey Francis (East Meadow, N.Y) placed 43rd in the 400 individual medley in 4:18.73, Katie Rowe (Glenville, N.Y.) was 53rd in the 100 butterfly in 54.04, and Melissa Rodriguez (Chihuahua, Mexico) touched in 1:01.73 in the 100 breaststroke to place 45th.
On the first day of competition Thursday, Fittin led Penn State with a ninth-place finish in school-record time in the 50 freestyle, while the 200 free relay team broke its own school record to place 12th. Fittin set a new school standard in the preliminaries, touching in 21.98 seconds, but was just a hundredth of a second shy of reaching the 'A' final. She delivered in the 'B' final though, winning in 22.07 seconds to place ninth overall.
Fittin was also a part of the 200 free relay effort, which nearly broke its standard of 1:28.50 in the prelims, placing 12th in 1:28.59, and then remained 12th in a record-setting 1:28.30.
Competition in the three-day event will complete on Saturday.