Dec. 4, 2015

Results

ATHENS, Ga./PRINCETON, N.J. ââ'¬" With 11 NCAA provisional qualifying times on the first day the, No. 15 Penn State women's swimming and diving team sits fourth after the first day of competition Friday at the UGA Fall Invitational in Gabrielsen Natatorium. The team also had swimmers competing in the Big Al Open hosted by Princeton.

No. 1 Virginia leads the meet with 323 points, No. 3 Georgia is second with 254 points and No. 10 Auburn is third with 219. Penn State is fourth with 167 points to lead fifth-place Florida State (88).

"I think we're doing fine," said head coach Tim Murphy. "Each team is approaching this meet a little differently. I think Virginia shaved, and maybe others approached it like we did with short rest, but I think we responded fine. We just have to try and get the ball rolling as we always do and try to get a little bit better. There are a lot of swims left and a long way to go."

The distance duo of Casey Francis (East Meadow, N.Y.) and Katelyn Sowinski (Severna Park, Md.) was strong in the 500 freestyle, as both posted their first provisional qualifying times of the season. Francis qualified for the A-final in a personal best 4:43.87 and improved to 4:43.31 in the evening to ultimately place sixth. Sowinski, Penn State's record holder in the event, swam in the B-final and placed 10th overall in 4:44.26.

Six Nittany Lion swims beat the provisional standard in the 200 individual medley. Katie Rowe (Glenville, N.Y.) tied for the team's top individual finish with a sixth-place effort in 1:58.92, and her 1:58.89 prelim time was a season best. Melissa Rodriguez (Chihuahua, Mexico) was 13th in 2:00.89, and Haley Sinatro (West Hartford, Conn.) rounded out the B-final in 2:02.00 after touching in 1:59.83 in the prelims. Monika Gonzalez-Hermosillo (Mexico City, Mexico) won the C-final in 1:59.68 to place 17th, and Niki Price (Manchester, Pa.) (2:00.60) and Megan Wujciak (Livington, N.J.) (2:01.49) also swam their best times in the finals.

Alyson Ackman (Montreal, Quebec), Katie Saloky (Bloomsburg, Pa.) and Kaitlin Jones (Midlothian, Va.) also achieved their first B-cuts in the 50 freestyle. Ackman swam a season-best 22.81 to place ninth, and Saloky followed in 10th in 22.90. Saloky swam a 22.88 in the preliminaries. Kaitlin Jones was also in the top half of the B-final, placing 12th in 23.08. Her provisional time of 22.87 came in the preliminary heat.

The women strong in both opening relays, placing teams in fourth and eighth in each. The 'A' team of Ackman, Jones, Sinatro and Saloky took fourth in the 200 free relay in 1:30.17, while the 'B' group of Allie Pennetti (Wexford, Pa.), Katrina Kuhn (Piscataway, N.J.), Price and Wujiack placed eighth in 1:33.23. In the 400 medley relay, Ackman again led the 'A' team off and was joined by Rodriguez, Saloky and Price, who combined to finish fourth in 3:37.59. Pennetti, Sinatro, Rowe and Wujciak followed in 3:39.61 to place eighth.

"I expect us to do the little things that are going to allow us to do well," said Murphy. "Obviously the competition is quite high, so we're banging heads with some real good swimmers here. Today there was some real good stuff and some real solid stuff, but then we were spotty. It's a three day meet and on the first day that is what you usually get, so we'll have a better idea how the meet is trending in general tomorrow. I expect us to come out tomorrow and be aggressive and assertive and see what we've got."

At Princeton, two Nittany Lions advanced to the finals. Bridget Moody swam her fastest time in the 500 free in the prelims, clocking in at 5:02.05. Aleksandra Tulacz also reached the finals in the 200 IM, touching in 2:06.44.

The Georgia meet will resume with Day 2 preliminary rounds at 9:30 a.m., while the Princeton meet will resume at 11 a.m. Finals in Georgia will start at 5 p.m. and in Princeton at 6 p.m.