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Wed., Feb. 15-Sat., Feb. 18 | |
| Boilermaker Aquatic Center | West Lafayette, Ind. | |
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Championship Central
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Penn State sophomore Ally McHugh (Philadelphia, Pa.) won the silver medal in the 400 individual medley at the 2017 Big Ten Women's Swimming & Diving Championships to lead the Nittany Lions Friday night in Boilermaker Aquatic Center on the campus of Purdue University.
After 14 completed events, Penn State ranks eighth with 333 points, trailing seventh-place Northwestern by 17 points and holding a 23-point edge over ninth-place Rutgers.
"We're really proud of the ladies today," said head coach Tim Murphy. "Almost everyone was swim-ming above their seeds, so they were moving up in reference to where they entered the meet."
Senior Mackenzie Hornibrook (West Chester, Pa.) was recognized as a Big Ten Sportsmanship winner prior to the start of the finals.
"For me, her getting that award is like sitting on top of the podium." said Murphy. "Her demeanor and poise through a lot of adversity from a competitive standpoint has really been outstanding."
McHugh set a new Penn State 400 IM record by touching in 4:06.27. The previous record was 4:06.85 set by Gabrielle Shishkoff in 2014. McHugh nearly eclipsed the record in the preliminaries, also ranking second at 4:06.91. Ohio State's Lindsey Clary won gold in the event in an NCAA A-cut 4:04.09.
"She had a monster swim in the morning and as impressive was coming back at night, and being on a big time heat, in a real spot, she held her second-place seed and set a team record," said Murphy. "It was very impressive."
Casey Francis (East Meadow, N.Y.) placed 14th in 4:15.44, while Megan Wujciak (Livingston, N.J.) was 20th in 4:17.84. Both times were B-cuts.
The Nittany Lions also had individual finalists in the 200 freestyle and 100 butterfly.
Five Lions reached the 200 free finals, led by Tommie Dillione (Newtown, Pa.) and Siena Salvaggio (Allentown, Pa.) in the B final. Dillione swam identical personal-best and NCAA B-cut times of 1:46.93 in both the prelims and finals to place 14th. Salvaggio was 16th in 1:48.08 after setting a personal best and B-cut of 1:46.90 in the prelims. Heather MacDougall (La Crescenta, Calif.) led three in the C final by placing 18th in 1:48.11. Katelyn Sowinski (Severna Park, Md.) followed in 22nd at 1:48.79, while Cara Treble was 24th (1:49.38).
Niki Price (Manchester, Pa.) and Katie Saloky (Bloomsburg, Pa.) both reached the B final in the 100 fly. Price was 13th in a season-best 53.82, while Saloky was 14th in 53.98 after swimming a season best 53.43 in the preliminaries. Price and Saloky's times were both NCAA B-cuts.
Saloky, Price, Hannah Zurmuhl (Perkasie, Pa.) and Salvaggio teamed up for a sixth-place finish in the 200 free relay in a season-best 1:31.01 to close out the evening.
Mackenzie Cornell (Germantown, Md.) placed 22nd in the 3-meter dive with a score of 269.00.
On Friday, Penn State had four representatives advance to the finals of the 500 freestyle and Saloky reached the A final of the 50 free to lead the team. Saloky touched eighth in her first Big Ten A-finals appearance in 22.60 seconds. She became the third-fastest Penn State performer in the event all-time in the preliminaries with a personal-best of 22.39 that ranked her fourth entering the finals.
Francis and Salvaggio led a quartet of 500 free finalists in the `B' final. Francis placed 12th in a season-best 4:42.59, and Salvaggio placed 14th in a personal-best 4:44.28. McHugh and Sowinski both reached the C-final. McHugh was the 24th and final preliminary qualifier, but she improved by more than five seconds in the finals to touch in 4:41.70, less than one second off of the Penn State record to now rank as the second fastest performer all-time in the event for the Lions. The time was good for second in the heat, which placed her 18th overall. Sowinski placed 24th (4:51.85).
The night concluded with a ninth-place finish in the 400 medley relay, as Price Saloky, Maddie Hart (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) and Dillione combined to finish in a season-best 3:38.28.
On Wednesday, the Nittany Lions' top performance came in the 800 free relay as Dillione and Price and freshmen MacDougall and Salvaggio earned a seventh-place finish in 7:09.40.
The meet concludes Saturday with preliminary heats beginning at 11 a.m. with the finals scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. each night.
"We've got a tough battle to try and catch Northwestern," said Murphy. "It's going to be a real test tomorrow to see how many people can make it back. Really, the team with the most swims coming back at night is really going to set it up for the evening and the finish."
The Big Ten Network will also televise Saturday's finals Sunday, Feb. 19 at 10:30 a.m. ET. Complimentary access to BTN2Go is available to viewers connected to the internet network of a Big Ten university. Fans elsewhere can sign up for the pay-per-view webcasts.
Saturday, Feb. 18 - PRELIMS at 11 a.m.
200 Backstroke
100 Freestyle
200 Breaststroke
200 Butterfly
Platform Diving - Trials (1 p.m.)
Platform Diving - Consolation Final
1,650 Freestyle (Approx. 4:15 p.m.)
Saturday, Feb. 18 - FINALS at 6:30 p.m.
1,650 Freestyle
200 Backstroke
100 Freestyle
200 Breaststroke
200 Butterfly
Platform Diving
400 Freestyle Relay