Feb. 17, 2016
| PENN STATE @ B1G CHAMPIONSHIPS | |
| | |
Wed., Feb. 17 | Thurs., Feb. 18 | Fri., Feb. 19 | Sat., Feb. 20 | |
| Canham Natatorium | Ann Arbor, Mich. | |
| MEET LINKS | |
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's swimming and diving team is set to compete in Ann Arbor at the Big Ten Championships, hosted by Michigan in the Canham Natatorium, Wednesday-Saturday.
COVERAGE
The four-day meet is scheduled to commence with relay finals Wednesday at 6:30, and continue Friday through Saturday with preliminaries starting at 11 a.m. and finals at 6:30 p.m. The action Wednesday through the Saturday prelims will be covered live on BTN Plus, while the Saturday finals will be broadcast live on BTN2Go.
OF NOTE
The Big Ten Women's Swimming & Diving Championships at Canham Natatorium will start at 6:30 p.m. as scheduled.
The University of Michigan and Big Ten Conference were notified of an illness among students on central campus, including members of the Michigan women's swimming & diving program. The Big Ten Conference, University of Michigan athletic department and the University of Michigan Health System collaboratively assessed the situation and determined that Canham Natatorium was a safe environment for competitors and spectators.
Wednesday morning's warmups were cancelled as Michigan Athletics worked with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to test water samples and chlorine levels, sanitize the pool and perform an additional deep clean of the facility as a precautionary measure.
THE MEET
The Nittany Lions, which are ranked No. 25 in the final College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Division I Team Rankings, will face some of the toughest competition in the country as five other conference teams enter the event as members of the Top 25. Host Michigan leads the conference ranking third and following are No. 12 Wisconsin, No. 13 Indiana, No. 21 Purdue and No. 22 Minnesota
Last year, Minnesota won its fourth consecutive Big Ten Championship, amassing 618.5 points throughout the four-day event. Indiana finished second with 591 points, Michigan placed third with 478.5 points, Wisconsin was fourth with 448 points and Purdue rounded out the top five with 388 points. The Lions placed seventh.
All-B1G RETURNERS
Alyson Ackman (Montreal, Quebec) and Katie Saloky (Bloomsburg, Pa.) both earned second-team All-Big Ten honors in 2015.
B1G CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
Penn State has claimed three Big Ten women's swimming championships (2002, 2005, 2006) and 41 individual championships since first competing in 1992.
FREESTYLE
The Nittany Lions have standouts in both the sprint and distance freestyle events.
Casey Francis (East Meadow, N.Y.) ranks fifth in the nation and second in the conference in the mile with her school-record performance of 16:05.37, while Katelyn Sowinski (Severna Park, Md.) rounds out the league's top 10 with a season-best of 16:25.78. The duo also ranks in the 500 led by Francis in sixth (4:43.31) and Sowinski in eighth (4:44.26).
In the short races, Ackman ranks in the conference Top 10 in all three. She ranks highest in the 100 free in fourth with a season-best time of 49.00. She also ranks seventh in the 50 (22.72) and eighth in the 200 (1:46.55). Kaitlin Jones (Midlothian, Va.) is another threat in the 200, ranking fifth in the conference with a season-best of 1:45.67.
All of the times are NCAA B-cuts.
BREASTSTROKE
Melissa Rodriguez (Chihuahua, Mexico) leads Penn State in the breaststroke, with Top-10 league performances in both the 100 and 200. Her season-best 200 time of 2:08.83 ranks 13th in the nation and third in the conference, while 100 time of 1:00.85 ranks sixth.
BACKSTROKE
Ackman is the lone Lion with a Top-10 time in the conference, touching in 53.88 in the 100. Niki Price leads the team in the 200 backstroke with a season-best and NCAA B-cut time of 1:57.56.
BUTTERFLY
Seniors Haley Sinatro (West Hartford, Conn.) and Katie Rowe (Glenville, N.Y.) lead Penn State in the 100 and 200, respectively. Sinatro's season-best of 53.95 in the 100 ranks 10th in the league, while Rowe's 1:58.65 in the 200 ranks eighth.
INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY
Rowe is also a threat to score big points in the individual medley events, ranking in the top five in both the 200 and 400, and she is joined in the top 10 by freshman Monika Gonzalez-Hermosillo (Mexico City, Mexico). Rowe's season-bests of 1:58.89 in the 200 and 4:11.94 in the 400 rank third and fifth, respectively. Gonzalez-Hermosillo ranks fourth in the 400 with a time of 4:11.80 and 10th in the 200 at 1:59.68.
DIVING
Mackenzie Cornell (Germantown, Md.) will look to lead Penn State with season bests of 292.50 in the 1-meter and 309.75 in the 3-meter.
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 17
Day One Finals: 6:30 p.m.
200-yard Medley Relay
800-yard Freestyle Relay
THURSDAY, FEB. 18
Day Two Prelims: 11 a.m.
500-yard Freestyle
200-yard Individual Medley
50-yard Freestyle
1M Diving (Prelims & Consolation Finals, 1 p.m.)
Day Two Finals: 6:30 p.m.
200-yard Freestyle Relay
500-yard Freestyle
200-yard Individual Medley
50-yard Freestyle
1M Diving
FRIDAY, FEB. 19
Day Three Prelims: 11 a.m.
400-yard Individual Medley
100-yard Butterfly
200-yard Freestyle
100-yard Breaststroke
100-yard Backstroke
3M Diving (Prelims & Consolation Finals, 1 p.m.)
Day Three Finals: 6:30 p.m.
400-yard Medley Relay
400-yard Individual Medley
100-yard Butterfly
200-yard Freestyle
100-yard Breaststroke
100-yard Backstroke
3M Diving
SATURDAY, FEB. 20
Day Four Prelims: 11 a.m.
200-yard Backstroke
100-yard Freestyle
200-yard Breaststroke
200-yard Butterfly
Platform Diving (Prelims & Consolation Finals, 1 p.m.)
1,650-yard Freestyle
Day Four Finals: 6:30 p.m.
1,650-yard Freestyle
200-yard Backstroke
100-yard Freestyle
200-yard Breaststroke
200-yard Butterfly
Platform Diving
400-yard Freestyle Relay
Television Coverage
BTN will air the Big Ten Women's Swimming & Diving Championships on Monday, Feb. 22 at 10 p.m. ET.
Live Coverage
Wednesday evening Finals: BTN Plus
Thursday morning Prelims: BTN Plus
Thursday evening Finals: BTN Plus
Friday morning Prelims: BTN Plus
Friday evening Finals: BTN Plus
Saturday morning Prelims: BTN Plus
Saturday evening Finals: BTN2Go