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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's and women's swimming and diving teams hit the road for the first time this season, visiting nationally-ranked NC State and also taking on Duke in a double dual meet Friday at 5 p.m. in Casey Aquatic Center.
Penn State is taking on two more ACC opponents after opening the season against the No. 13 Virginia women and No. 22 Virginia men in their season opener last week. In the CSCAA Preseason Poll, NC State ranks fifth on the men's side and eighth on the women's side, while the Duke women rank 20th.
Schedule of Events
200 Medley Relay
1000 Free
200 Free
100 Back
100 Breast
200 Fly
50 Free
---Diving Break---
100 Free
200 Back
200 Breast
500 Free
100 Fly
----Diving Break---
200 IM
400 Free Relay
The Nittany Lions
The Penn State men came excruciating close to earning a win over No. 22 Virginia in the season opener, with just two points giving the Cavaliers the victory. The Lions' two Canadian sophomores were the early standouts as Kalean Freund (Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada) and Liam Veregin both posted NCAA B-cut times. Freund swam the fastest 100 breaststroke time in NCAA Division I this season with a B-cut of 54.20 seconds, and he also claimed the 200 breast (2:00.34, 6th in NCAA) and 200 IM (1:49.71, 11th in NCAA) to earn Big Ten Men's Swimmer of the Week honors. Veregin ranks in the Top 25 in the NCAA in both the 100 and 200 backstrokes, as his 100 time of 48.48 against Virginia ranks 13th, and his 200 back time of 1:48.01 ranks 21st. Additionally, freshman France-native Nathan Schiffmann ranks 24th in the NCAA in the 500 free (4:31.49).
On the women's side, Penn State features three ranking in the NCAA's Top 30. Freshman Carly Hart ranks 27th (1:03.32) in the 100 breaststroke, and is followed by reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Week Jane Donahue in 30th (1:03.34), while senior captain Tommie Dillione ranks 28th in the 200 free in 1:49.62. Donahue earned a victory in the 200 IM against Virginia in 2:03.83 to rank 34th in the NCAA amongst three top-four finishes in her collegiate debut. Additionally, freshmen Camryn Barry and Stephanie Szekely were opening-week standouts in the 500 and 100 freestyles, respectively, just outside the Top 30. Barry ranks 33rd in the 500 (4:55.49) and Szekely ranks 32nd (10:09.11) in the 1000 free.
The Series
This is the first meeting between Penn State and Duke, while the Nittany Lions only meeting against NC State was back in 1988, with the women earning a 169-131 victory and the men taking a 77-166 loss.
The Opposition
NC State will be opening its 2017-18 season. The No. 5 men are coming off their second consecutive fourth-place finish at the NCAA Championships and third consecutive ACC Championship, while the No. 8 women are coming off a seventh-place finish at NCAAs and an ACC Championship.
Duke opened its season last weekend with a double dual against Virginia Tech and Florida State. The No. 20 women defeated No. 23 Florida State, 192.5-160.5, but fell to Virginia Tech, 214-139, while the men fell to No. 20 Florida State, 208-145, and No. 19 Virginia Tech, 209-144.
Next Up
Penn State will not compete next week, but will return to the pool at Minnesota, also facing Michigan and Wisconsin, in a two-day meet set for Friday and Saturday, Nov. 3-4.
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.