Dec. 6, 2015
| UGA FALL INVITE BIG AL OPEN | |
Gabrielsen Natatorium | Athens, Ga. | |
| DeNunzio Pool | Princeton, N.J. | |
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UGA: Final Results
PRIN: Final Results2015-16 Top Times: Penn State Women | Penn State Men
ATHENS, Ga./PRINCETON, N.J. ââ'¬" Melissa Rodriguez (Chihuahua, Mexico) broke her own school record in the 200 breaststroke to lead the No. 15 Penn State women's swimming and diving team Sunday on the final day of competition at the UGA Fall Invitational in Gabrielsen Natatorium. The team also had swimmers and divers competing in the Big Al Open hosted by Princeton in DeNunzio Pool.
Rodriguez actually broke her own school record twice, touching in 2:09.26 in the morning preliminary and then cutting her time to 2:08.83 to place third in the final. Her previous record was 2:09.54 set at the 2014 Big Ten Championships.
"The third day of the meet presents some challenges with the accumulation of races, but she just did a real nice job of racing," said Penn State head coach Tim Murphy. "She had a real nice heat of people to compete against. She's really put in a lot of good work, and she's been real determined and focused for a while now, so it was nice to see her perform and see the results."
Taylor Cameron (Burlington, Ontario) and Emily Harris (Downington, Pa.) also had strong finishes in the event, placing 11th (2:16.68) and 15th (2:18.92), respectively.
Murphy's thoughts were also with another Penn State team after the competition. Although they missed it for the competition, the team was excited for Penn State's women's soccer team's national championship victory.
"On behalf of the swimming and diving teams, I want to say congratulations to the women's soccer team on winning the National Championship," said Murphy. "That is awesome."
In the meet, Penn State placed fourth as a team with 528.5 points. No. 1 Virginia won with 1006.5 points, host and third-ranked Georgia was second with 926, while No. 10 Auburn was third with 755. Florida State and Vanderbilt trailed Penn State.
"We had a good third day of the meet," said Murphy. "We had numerous best times and best season times again to add on. We had some real good, tough swims. So we're just showing some real good strengths and real good execution. We're working on the consistency of things and just trying to be strong and tough pretty much across the board."
The Nittany Lions posted a pair of B-cut times in the 100 freestyle. Alyson Ackman (Montreal, Quebec) completed the morning preliminary in 49.00 seconds and placed fifth in 49.17 in the final. Kaitlin Jones (Midlothian, Va.) placed 11th in 49.44, while Katie Saloky (Bloomsburg, Pa.) was 16th in 50.86 after a morning swim of 50.29.
Casey Francis (East Meadow, N.Y.) earned her second sixth-place finish of the weekend, completing the mile in 16:18.14, while Katelyn Sowinski (Severna Park, Md.) was 12th in 16:44.00. Sowinski and Francis also had success in the 200 butterfly. Katie Rowe (Glenville, N.Y.) led the Lions in the event, placing seventh in 2:00.81 after swimming a provisional qualifying time of 1:58.65 in the morning, while Sowinski was eighth in 2:02.00 after swimming a 1:59.65 in the morning. In the B-final, Monika Gonzalez-Hermosillo (Mexico City, Mexico) was 11th in 1:59.79 and Francis was 14th in 2:01.62.
Niki Price (Manchester, Pa.) continued a strong weekend with a provisional qualifying time in the 200 backstroke, placing 10th in 1:57.56. Three Nittany Lions finished in order behind her, including Chelsea VanderWeele (Silver Spring, Md.) (2:00.12), Casey Fazio (Washington Township, N.J.) (2:00.55) and Rowe (2:00.74). Rowe swam the race in 1:59.00 to slip under the provisional standard in the morning preliminary race.
The Lions concluded the meet with a fourth place finish in the 4x100 freestyle relay, as Ackman, Jones, Price and Haley Sinatro (West Hartford, Conn.) combined to touch the wall in 3:17.78.
"I think this kind of weekend you get a real clear indication of what physically, emotionally and skill-wise we need to set the bar at, and really go after it the back half of the season," said Murphy. "It was a very, very productive weekend for us."
At Princeton, Mackenzie Cornell (Germantown, Md.) placed fourth in the 3-meter dive with a finals score of 274.20, while Aleksandra Tulacz (Shrewsbury, Mass.) led the swimmers with an eighth-place finish in the 200 breaststroke in 2:20.92.
Penn State will return to competition in the New Year, resuming at Yale in a tri-meet with Rutgers Jan. 15-16.
On Saturday, Gonzalez-Hermosillo earned a fifth-place finish in the 400 individual medley to lead Penn State's strongest event of the day, touching the wall in a personal best 4:11.80. She now ranks as the sixth fastest performer in program history in the event. Right behind her on the list is Rowe, who improved over three seconds in the finals from the preliminary to win the B-final in 4:11.91. Placing right behind her overall was Francis, who also cracked the Penn State Top 10 list in the event in 4:14.81. Allyson McHugh (Philadelphia, Pa.) was also in the B-final, placing 14th in a personal best 4:19.00. All four times bested the NCAA provisional standard.
Rodriguez earned a sixth-place finish in the 100 breaststroke with a season-best 1:00.85. Sinatro was 12th in 1:02.43 after finishing in 1:02.18 in the prelims, joining Rodriguez with a B-cut time.
Jones also had a strong A-final finish, placing seventh in the 200 freestyle in a personal best and provisional qualifying 1:46.29. Ackman won the B-final in 1:46.55, also a B-cut time, and was joined by Megan Wujciak (Livingston, N.J.) in 12th (1:48.02).
Ackman also placed 10th in the 100 backstroke in a provisional qualifying 54.79. Fazio and Allie Pennetti tied behind her in 55.15 for 11th place, while Niki Price (Manchester, Pa.) was 16th in 55.96.
Additionally, Sowinski led Penn State in the 100 butterfly, placing 16th in 55.21 after swimming 54.55 in the prelims.
Penn State's top finish came in the 4x800 freestyle relay, which placed third in a provisional qualifying 7:09.32. The team was composed of Price, Ackman Wujciak and Jones. The Nittany Lions opened the evening with a fifth-place finish in the 200 medley relay (1:39.25) with the team of Pennetti, Rodriguez, Saloky and Jones.
With 11 NCAA provisional qualifying times on the first day, the Lions got off to a great start.
The distance duo of Francis and Sowinski 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. Rowe 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. Rodriguez was 13th in 2:00.89 and Sinatro rounded out the B-final in 2:02.00 after touching in 1:59.83 in the prelims. Gonzalez-Hermosillo won the C-final in 1:59.68 to place 17th and Price (2:00.60) and Wujciak (2:01.49) also swam their best times in the finals.
Ackman, Saloky and Jones 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 Pennetti, 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.
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. Tulacz also reached the finals in the 200 IM, touching in 2:06.44.
Both meets will conclude Sunday. The Georgia meet will resume with preliminary rounds at 9:30 a.m., while the Princeton meet will resume at 10 a.m. Finals in Georgia will start at 3 p.m. and in Princeton at 5 p.m.