UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State swimming & diving will conclude the first semester of competition with the Tennessee Invitational hosted by the in the Jones Aquatic Center. The three-day invitational, hosted by the University of Tennessee, begins Thursday morning.
The Nittany Lions will compete in morning preliminaries starting at 10 a.m. looking to qualify for evening finals at 6 p.m. The first two days of the meet will feature a diving final at 5 p.m. and platform diving finals will be Saturday at 1:30 p.m. The teams competing include Duke, Denver, Penn, Carson-Newman and Tennessee. The Tennessee men's team is currently ranked No. 12, with the women being ranked No. 10. Duke's women's squad is also ranked No. 25 in the latest polls.
Event Schedule
THURSDAY
Swimming Prelims - 10 a.m.
500 Free
200 IM
50 Free
Diving Prelims - 1 p.m.
Women's 3-meter
Men's 1-meter
Diving Final - 5 p.m.
Women's 3-meter
Finals - 6 p.m.
200 Free Relay
500 Free
200 IM
50 Free
Men's 1-meter
400 Medley Relay
FRIDAY
Swimming Prelims - 10 a.m.
400 IM
100 Fly
200 Free
100 Breast
100 Back
Diving Prelims - 1 p.m.
Men's 3-meter
Women's 1-meter
Diving Final - 5 p.m.
Men's 3-meter
Finals - 6 p.m.
200 Medley Relay
400 IM
100 Fly
200 Free
100 Breast
100 Back
800 Free Relay
SATURDAY
Swimming Prelims - 10 a.m.
200 Back
100 Free
200 Breast
200 Fly
1650 Free (Final)
Diving Finals - 1:30 p.m.
Women's Platform
Men's Platform
Finals - 6 p.m.
1650 Free (Fastest seeded heat)
200 Back
100 Free
200 Breast
200 Fly
400 Free Relay
Last Time Out for Penn State
The Penn State men's and women's teams finished fourth and third, respectively, in the Big Al Open at Princeton at their last combined meet. Freshman Michael Daly led the men's squad with three top-three finishes with a first-place finish in the 400 IM (3:55.86) and second-place finishes in the 200 back (1:47.14) and the 200 breast (2:04.65).
The Nittany Lion women were led by a group of underclassmen with freshman Madison Murtagh claiming a definitive first-place finish in the 1650 free (16:46.12) after taking second in the 500 free (4:54.80) the previous day. Following a third-place finish in the 100 breast (1:03.64), sophomore Carly Hart came out strong to take the second-place slot in the 200 breast (2:17.44).
Additionally, seniors Hector Garcia Boissier and Ally McHugh, as well as junior Maddie Hart and sophomore Gabe Castano took part in the ACC/B1G Challenge the same weekend. McHugh earned an NCAA B-Cut in both the 500 free and 400 IM with times of 4:39.63 and 4:07.89, respectively. She placed second in the 1000 free with a time of 9:40.12 and helped push the Big Ten to their third-place finish in the 800 free relay (7:10.07).
The Nittany Lion divers are the most recent to compete, doing so at the Navy Diving Invitational. Garcia Boissier led the Nittany Lions, finishing the meet with a first-place finish (439.85) in the 3-meter dive, his highest score of the year. He also had a second-place finish in the 1-meter dive (371.20).
McHugh is currently ranked second in the nation and in the Big Ten for her 9:40.12 performance in the 1000 free at the B1G/ACC Challenge. She is also ranked sixth in the nation and second in the Big Ten with a time of 4:39.63 in the 500 free. Her 400 IM time (4:07.89) pushed her into the top nationally and third in the Big Ten.
Next Up
Penn State swimmers and divers will start the New Year traveling Navy to face the hosting Mids and North Carolina Saturday, Jan. 12.
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 facebook.com/pennstateswimminganddiving.
A fundraiser has been launched to support freshman women's swimmer Nikolette Nolte and her family for costs associated with her leukemia treatment. Any surplus funds will be donated to THON and the Jessie Rees Foundation to help others facing pediatric cancer. Donate at gopsu.info/nikistrong.