March 18, 2016
| PENN STATE @ NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS | |
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| McAuley Aquatic Center | Atlanta, Ga. | |
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ATLANTA ââ'¬" Senior Alyson Ackman (Montreal, Quebec) continued to lead Penn State on the third day of the 2016 NCAA Women's Swimming Championships, placing 10th in the 200 freestyle Friday in the McAuley Aquatic Center.
As a team, the Nittany Lions rank 27th with 13 points.
Ackman finished second in the consolation finals, touching in 1:44.78 after finishing in 1:44.72 in the preliminaries. Kaitlin Jones also competed in the 200 free but did not advance out of the preliminaries after finishing 37th in 1:46.59.
"We had a good; real proud of the ladies efforts today," said head coach Tim Murphy. "Katie Rowe with a lifetime best…and she finished 19th in the country which was just super. Ackman did a really nice job racing both this morning and tonight."
Senior Katie Rowe (Glenville, N.Y.) narrowly missed advancing in the 400 individual medley, placing 19th in the preliminaries in a personal-best 4:09.77. The time was more than two seconds lower than her personal and season best and ranks her as the third fastest in the event in program history. Junior Casey Francis (East Meadow, N.Y.) also competed in the event, finishing in 4:18.27.
Another strong morning performance came from Melissa Rodriguez (Chihuahua, Mexico), who placed 28th in the 100 breaststroke in 1:00.75.
Saturday marks the final day of competition, with the preliminary session beginning at 10 a.m. ET and the finals slated for 6 p.m.
Ackman and Jones will compete in the 100 freestyle, Rodriguez will compete in the 200 breaststroke, Rowe and Katelyn Sowinski (Severna Park, Md.) will compete in the 200 butterfly, Francis will compete in the mile and the 400 freestyle relay will cap the meet.
"I'm looking forward to it," said Murphy. "The ladies did a real nice job today. Scoring is going to be tough to come by for sure, so we'll have some work to do tomorrow morning."
ESPN3.com will live stream finals session Saturday. The morning session will be streamed live on NCAA.com. Additionally, ESPNU will air a two-hour broadcast via tape delay at 7 p.m., Tuesday, March 29. Live results for the championships will be available on NCAA.com.
Thursday, Ackman touched in a season best in the 50 free 22.41, but it was not enough to advance to the finals, and she placed 28th. Tough competition prevented the Nittany Lions from earning evening swims, who sit 27th as a team with six points.
Jones trailed Ackman in the 50 in 23.28, while Rowe placed 37th in the 200 individual medley in 1:58.76.
Francis led the distance effort in the 500 freestyle, placing 47th in 4:46.18, while Katelyn Sowinski (Severna Park, Md.) also competed and touched in 4:53.58.
The 400 medley relay team of Ackman, Rodriguez, Niki Price (Manchester, Pa,) and Jones placed 25th in 3:36.61. The Lions were disqualified from the 200 freestyle relay due to an early jump.
Wednesday, the Penn State team of Ackman, Price, Megan Wujciak and Jones was named honorable mention All-America in the 800 freestyle relay Wednesday evening to open the
The quartet combined to finish in a season-best 7 minutes, 4.42 seconds to place 14th. It was also the second fastest time in school history in the event.
For Ackman, it is her 11th career first team or honorable mention All-America honor, while it was Jones' second after earning first-team honors as a part of last season's 800 free relay performance. It was the first for Price and Wujciak who both made their NCAA Championships debuts.
Schedule of Events:
Friday
Prelims - 10 a.m.
Diving Trials ââ'¬" 3-meter - 12:15
15 minutes following trails - 3-meter diving consolation final
Finals - 6 p.m.
400 IM Consolation
400 IM Final
100 Butterfly Consolation
100 Fly Final
200 Free Consolation
200 Free Final
100 Breaststroke Consolation
100 Breast Final
100 Backstroke Consolation
100 Back Final
3-meter Diving Final
200 Medley Relay Consolation
200 Medley Relay Final
Saturday
Prelims - 10 a.m.
Platform Diving Trials - 12:15
15 minutes following trials - platform consolation final
3:45 p.m. - 4:50 p.m. - freestyle early heats begin
4:50 p.m. - Free last heat of timed finals
Finals - 6 p.m.
200 Back Consolation
200 Back Final
100 Free Consolation
100 Free Final
200 Breast Consolation
200 Breast Final
200 Butterfly Consolation
200 Fly Final
Platform Diving Final
400 Free Relay Consolation
400 Free Relay Final
Team Awards