Nov. 14, 2015

Final Stats

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's and women's swimming & diving teams swept the Penn State Invite Saturday afternoon at McCoy Natatorium. The Penn State women totaled 1094 points to finsh ahead of Princeton (993) and Connecticut (860).

On the women's side, Casey Francis (East Meadow, N.Y.) and Katelyn Sowinski (Severna Park, Md.) continued their distance dominance with another 1-2 finish. Both swam season bests in the 500, as Francis touched first in 4:51.70 and Sowinski followed in 4:52.80. On Friday, the duo placed one and two in the 1650 free, with Francis setting a new school and pool record.

Niki Price (Manchester, Pa.) earned victories in both Saturday sessions. In the morning, Price and Sowinski combined for a 1-2 finish in the 100 butterfly with Price (55.35) reaching the wall just ahead of Sowinski (55.35) in personal bests for both. In the afternoon, Price won the 200 backstroke in 2:02.57, while Katie Rowe (Glenville, N.Y.) was third in 2:02.93.

The women used several sweeps of the top scoring places to extend their lead. In the morning, the Nittany Lions claimed the top five places in the 100 backstroke, led by Haley Sinatro (West Hartford, Conn.) in a personal best 56.15. Rowe led a Penn State sweep of the top four places in the 400 individual medley, touching first in 4:22.59, while Melissa Rodriguez (Chihuahua, Mexico) did the same in the 100 breaststroke in 1:02.45.

In the afternoon, Alyson Ackman (Montreal, Quebec) led a top-four sweep in the 100 free with a season-best time of 50.59 seconds. In exhibitioned races, Rowe swam the fastest time in the 200 butterfly (2:01.75) and Rodriguez (200 breast, 2:14.67) and Ackman (100 free, 50.59) did the same in their respective events late.

The women opened the morning session with a 1-2 sweep in the 200 medley relay, led the team of Sinatro, Rodriguez, Saloky and Kaitlin Jones (Midlothian, Va.) in 1:42.21, and closed the day with another 1-2 finish in the 400 freestyle, led by the team of Ackman, Jones, Price and Katrina Kuhn.

Mackenzie Cornell (Germantown, Md.) placed second in the 1-meter dive with a score of 267.85. She also placed second Friday in the 3-meter dive with a score of 281.30.

On Friday, Francis set a new Penn State and McCoy Natatorium record in the women's swimming mile, as the Nittany Lions completed the first of three sessions of the Penn State Invite Friday evening.

Francis touched first in 16 minutes, 5.37 seconds to break the previous Penn State standard of 16:07.55 set by Megan Siverling at the 2015 Big Ten Championships. Sowinski followed in second in 16:25.78. Both times bested the NCAA 'B'-cut standard.

The women opened the session by sweeping the top two places in the 200 freestyle relay. The team of Ackman, Jones, Saloky and Sinatro swam a season-best time of 1:31.97 to place first.

The Lions were dominant in the 200 individual medley, sweeping the top six places, led by Rowe in 2:02.34. They were similarly dominant in the 50 free, as Saloky led a top-four sweep, touching in 23.47.

Next, Penn State will send split squads to the Georgia Invitational hosted by the University of Georgia and the Big Al Invitational hosted by Princeton Dec. 4-6.

Team Results
1. Penn State - 1094
2. Princeton - 993
3. Connecticut - 860

Scoring
Individual = 16 places: 1st -8th 20, 17-11 – 9th -16th 9, 7-1
Relays = double points & 2 relays per team will score