Nov. 18, 2015
ROSEMONT, Ill. -- Following standout performances at the Penn State Invitational this past weekend, the Penn State distance duo of Casey Francis (East Meadow, N.Y.) and Matt Stasiunas (Avondale, Pa.) earned Big Ten Women's and Men's Swimmer of the Week honors, respectively, and diver Hector Garcia Boissier (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain) was named the Men's Freshman of the Week, the conference office announced Wednesday.
The honors for Francis and Stasiunas are the first of their careers.
Francis swam the fastest 1650 freestyle in the country so far this season Friday, breaking the Penn State and McCoy Natatorium records and provisionally qualifying for the NCAA Championships with a time of 16 minutes, 5.37 seconds. The time would have ranked 15th at last year's NCAA Championships, putting her in honorable mention All-America territory. On Saturday, she also won the 500 free in a season best 4:51.70 and placed second in the 400 IM in 4:22.97. Francis shared this week's honor with Minnesota's Brooke Zeiger.
Francis is the first Nittany Lion to earn swimmer of the week honors since Amy Modglin on Jan. 15, 2013.
Stasiunas won three events to lead Penn State to victory over Princeton and UConn. He first swam the 1650 freestyle in an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 15:29.15 that ranks fifth nationally this season. He then won the 200 (1:39.49) and 500 (4:28.78) frees the next day. Additionally, Stasiunas placed fifth in the 200 butterfly (1:52.38) and helped lead the 200 and 400 free relay teams to runner-up finishes.
Garcia Boissier earned his second freshman of the week honor in as many meets with a pair of season-best scores in both the 1-meter (353.80) and 3-meter (377.27) dives to sweep the diving events. Both scored well-above NCAA Regional qualifying standards.
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.