Feb. 13, 2018
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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's swimming and diving team is set to compete in the Big Ten Championships, hosted by Ohio State in McCorkle Aquatic Pavillion Wednesday-Saturday.
SCHEDULE
The event begins at 6:30 p.m. ET Wednesday with the timed finals of the 200-yard medley relay and 800-yard freestyle relay. Preliminary heats will begin at 11 a.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with the finals scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. each night.
Wednesday, Feb. 14 - RELAYS at 6:30 p.m.
200 Medley Relay
800 Freestyle Relay
Thursday, Feb. 15 - PRELIMS at 11 a.m.
500 Freestyle
200 Individual Medley
50 Freestyle
1-Meter Diving - Trials (1 p.m.)
1-Meter Diving - Consolation Final
Thursday, Feb. 15 - FINALS at 6:30 p.m.
500 Freestyle
200 Individual Medley
50 Freestyle
1-Meter Diving
400 Medley Relay
Friday, Feb. 16 - PRELIMS at 11 a.m.
100 Butterfly
400 Individual Medley
200 Freestyle
100 Breaststroke
100 Backstroke
3-Meter Diving - Trials (1 p.m.)
3-Meter Diving - Consolation Final
Friday, Feb. 16 - FINALS at 6:30 p.m.
100 Butterfly
400 Individual Medley
200 Freestyle
100 Breaststroke
100 Backstroke
3-Meter Diving
200 Freestyle Relay
Saturday, Feb. 17 - 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. 17 - FINALS at 6:30 p.m.
1,650 Freestyle
200 Backstroke
100 Freestyle
200 Breaststroke
200 Butterfly
Platform Diving
400 Freestyle Relay
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. All sessions will be streamed live via BTN Plus on BTN2Go. 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.
THE MEET
The Nittany Lions will face some of the toughest competition in the country as six conference teams enter the event as members of the Top 25. Michigan leads the conference ranking fourth and following are No. 10 Indiana, No. 13 Ohio State, No. 16 Minnesota, No. 18 Wisconsin and No. 23 Purdue.
Penn State is looking to improve on an eighth-place finish last season. Last season, Michigan won its second consecutive conference crown, compiling 1,287 total points during the four-day event. Indiana finished second with 1,125 points, Wisconsin placed third with 1,101.5 points, Minnesota was fourth with 1.086 points and Ohio State rounded out the top five with 837 points.
All-B1G RETURNERS
The Nittany Lions return a pair of All-Big Ten honorees, led by U.S. National Team member Ally McHugh (Philadelphia, Pa.) McHugh set a Penn State record in the 400 IM to earn silver at last year's meet, and also cracked the Top 10 in the mile and scored in the 500 freestyle.
In 2016, Niki Price (Manchester, Pa.) was a member of Penn State's record-breaking 400 free relay effort that placed runner-up to conclude the meet.
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
Price leads Penn State in the sprint freestyle events, owning an NCAA B-cut time of 22.91 seconds. McHugh has also posted a B-cut in the 200 free of 1:47.76.
McHugh is among the Big Ten's leaders in the distance events, entering the meet ranking second in the mile (15:59.03) and fifth in the 500 free (4:38.77). Freshman Camryn Barry (Westlake Village, Calif.) is also a threat to score in both events, owning a B-cut in the 500 free (4:46.93) and ranking 13th in the mile (16:41.27). Classmate Stephanie Szekely (Doylestown, Pa.) also ranks in the Top 24 in the conference in the mile with a best time of 16:54.99.
BREASTSTROKE
Freshman Jane Donahue (Charlotte, N.C.) owns a pair of NCAA B-cut times in the breaststroke events to lead the Lions, posting a time of 2:15.63 in the 200 and 1:02.38 in the 100. Sophomore Annalee Johnson is second on the team in both events, also owning a B-cut in the 200 (2:15.95).
BACKSTROKE
Price and Maddie Hart (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) lead the Lions in the backstroke events. Hart owns a B-cut in the 200 (1:58.96), which she set against Villanova earlier this month to earn Big Ten Swimmer of the Week honors.
BUTTERFLY
Senior captain Hannah Harper (Charlottesville, Va.) has been Penn State's top performer in the fly this season, ranking 24th in the conference in 200 (1:59.93). She's second on the team in the 100 fly (54.85) by less than a tenth of a second, as Price edged her at the Ohio State Fall Invitational (54.78).
INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY
McHugh ranks second in the conference in the 400 IM with a season-best time of 4:08.06, trailing only Ohio State's Meg Bailey (4:05.80).
DIVING
The Nittany Lions had some of their biggest performances on the boards in their last outing. Against Villanova, freshman Emma Hellmann (Cinncinati, Ohio) (283.88), senior captain McKayla Mawn (Kennett Square, Pa.) (277.65) and Kamryn Umbel (Potomac, Md.) (273.74) finished 1-2-3 in the women's 1-meter springboard, with all scoring above the NCAA Zone Regional qualification score. Umbel (285.89), Christina Crowell (Bedford Hills, N.Y.) (280.27) and Mawn (263.77) also finished 1-2-3 in the 3-meter, with Umbel and Crowell scoring above the Zone standard.