Oct. 18, 2017
ROSEMONT, Ill. ââ'¬" The Penn State men's and women's swimming teams both had individuals earn conference honors for the week, as sophomore Kaelan Freund (Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada) was named the Big Ten Men's Swimmer of the Week and Jane Donahue (Charlotte, N.C.) was named the Big Ten Women's Swimming & Diving Freshman of the Week, the conference office announced Wednesday afternoon.
Freund, a Canadian National Champion over the summer and a four-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week last season, swam the fastest 100 breaststroke time in NCAA Division I this season Saturday against No. 22 Virginia, swimming an NCAA Championships B-cut of 54.20 seconds. The 100 breast was one of three events he won against the Cavaliers, as he also claimed the 200 breast (2:00.34, 6th in NCAA) and 200 IM (1:49.71, 11th in NCAA). Freund also gave Penn State an early lead by contributing to a gold in the meet-opening 200 medley relay (1:28.91).
Freund's efforts nearly gave the Nittany Lions a victory over nationally-ranked UVa, but they came up just short, 151-149.
Donahue earned three top-four finishes against No. 13 Virginia in her collegiate debut, including a victory in the 200 IM in a Big Ten, freshman-best 2:03.83. She also placed third in the 100 breast (1:03.34) and fourth in the 200 breast (2:18.18), with both times only trailing teammate Carly Hart (Canton, Ohio) among Big Ten freshmen this season.
Penn State returns to action Friday at NC State, taking on both the host Wolf Pack and Duke.
Check GoPSUSports.com for coverage of the Penn State swimming and diving teams during the season. Follow the team on Twitter at @PennStateSWIM and on Facebook at http://facebook.com/pennstateswimminganddiving.