July 25, 2018
Men's 1500m Free Results | Women's 800m Free Results
IRVINE, Calif. - Penn State junior Ally McHugh (Philadelphia, Pa.) was less than a tenth-of-a-second shy of medaling, placing fourth in the women's 800-meter freestyle Wednesday evening at the 2018 USA Swimming Phillips 66 Nationals at the William Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine, California.
McHugh, one of two Penn State swimmers to compete on the first of five days of competition, completed the 800m free in a personal-best 8:24.22, which also ranks her in the Top 10 in the world and puts her in position to qualify for the USA Pan-Pacific Championships team with three events remaining.
"We had two really good swims for Penn State," said Penn State head coach Tim Murphy.
In the 800m free, McHugh was the fastest in the pool over the final 200 meters of the race, finishing the last quarter in 2:03.28. Overall, Katie Ledecky claimed the national title (8:11.98), Leah Smith was second (8:22.79) and Haley Anderson (8:24.13) hung on for bronze despite McHugh's challenge down the stretch. McHugh's time was her best in the 800m by nearly six seconds, and the fourth-place finish also matches her career-best nationals finish after placing fourth in both the 400m IM and 1500m free in 2017.
"It was a really, really strong race for Ally," said Murphy. "With a best-time by almost six seconds, it was a nice way to start the meet."
McHugh will have Thursday off and is slated to compete in the 400m IM (Friday), 400m free (Saturday), 1500m free (Sunday).
Penn State men's swimmer Robbie Dickson (Greenwich, N.J.) also competed Wednesday, placing 29th in the 1500m free in 15:35.63, a personal best time.
"Robbie got us started this afternoon," said Murphy. "He just swam a very composed race, dead-even across the board. It was a real nice swim for him. Good drop of eight seconds-plus, so we're delighted for Robbie."
Dickson will swim again Sunday in the 800m free.
"Ally and Robbie both put the work in and came here to perform, and the first day they both did that," said Murphy. "I'm pumped!"
Maddie Hart (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) is the lone Nittany Lion set to compete Thursday, doing so in the 50m butterfly. She will also swim the 100m butterfly (Friday), 50m back (Friday) and 100m back (Saturday).
The Phillips 66 Nationals serve as the selection event for the USA National Teams competing at the 2018 Pan Pacific Championships, 2019 World Championships, 2019 World University Games, 2019 Pan American Championships and 2018 Jr. Pan Pacific Championships. The meet does not count towards 2020 Olympic Trials qualifying.
The entirety of the meet will be streamed between USASwimming.org and NBCSports.com, while the Olympic Channel will broadcast finals live Wednesday-Saturday. NBC Sports Network and NBC will air portions on tape delay. Consult USASwimming.org for a day-by-day schedule.
Check GoPSUSports.com for coverage of the Penn State swimming and diving teams. Follow the team on Twitter at @PennStateSWIM and on Facebook at http://facebook.com/pennstateswimminganddiving.