March 21, 2015
| PENN STATE @ NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS | |
Thurs., Mar. 19 | Fri., Mar. 20 | Sat., Feb. 21 | |
| Greensboro Aquatic Center | Greensboro, N.C. | |
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GREENSBORO, N.C. - Alyson Ackman (Montreal, Quebec) reached the `B' finals in the 100 freestyle Saturday to lead Penn State on the final day of competition at the 2015 NCAA Swimming Championships at the Greensboro Aquatic Center. As a team, the Nittany Lions placed 20th with 56 points.
Ackman ultimately placed 11th in a season-best 48.27 seconds after advancing with a 16th-place finish in the preliminaries in 48.59 seconds. Carolyn Fittin (Sea Girt, N.J.) also competed in the 100 free preliminaries in the morning, tying for 21st in 48.69 seconds.
Ackman and Fittin finished the meet as the Nittany Lions' most decorated swimmers, as Ackman garnered honorable mention All-America honors twice individually, while Fittin did once, and both contributed to PSU's first-team All-America effort in the 800 freestyle relay Friday and honorable mention All-America effort in the 200 free Thursday. The pair nearly added one more honor in the 400 free relay Saturday, but placed 17th in 3:16.48, just 0.32 seconds shy of the 16th and final advancing slot.
Ackman, a junior, now has a total of 10 All-America honors. Fittin, a senior, concludes her career with eight All-America accolades. As members of the 800 free relay team Friday, Ackman, Fittin, Kaitlyn Jones (Midlothian, Va.) and Caitlyn Karr (Reading, Pa.) became the first relay first-team All-Americans for the Nittany Lions since 2005 (Amberle Biedermann, Dee Dlugonski, Sarah Haupt and Kristen Woodring 200 & 400 Medley Relays).
In total, six of the 11 Lions that competed earned All-America recognition. Fittin's performance in the 50 freestyle Thursday was the lone individual school to record to fall, while the 200 and 800 freestyle relay teams both set new school standards.
The Lions were represented in a total of five events on the final day. Melissa Rodriguez (Chihuahua, Mexico) was 27th in 2:10.88 in the 200 breaststroke. Katie Rowe (Glenville, N.Y.) was 40th in 1:58.07 in the 200 butterfly, while Katelyn Sowinski (Severna Park ,Md.) followed in 2:00.85. Megan Siverling competed in the 1650 freestyle later in the afternoon, placing 31st in 16:18.49.
California won the team championship with 513 points, while a total of 46 different schools earned team scores.
2015 Penn State First-Team All-America Performances
Alyson Ackman - 800 Free Relay
Carolyn Fittin - 800 Free Relay
Kaitlyn Jones - 800 Free Relay
Caitlyn Karr - 800 Free Relay
2015 Penn State All-America Honorable Mention Performances
Alyson Ackman - 200 Free Relay, 200 Free, 100 Free
Carolyn Fittin - 50 Free, 200 Free Relay
Katelyn Miller - 200 Free Relay
Katie Saloky - 200 Free Relay