UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State women's swimming and diving team defeated the Villanova Wildcats 159-139 Friday night at the Villanova Aquatic Center. The Nittany Lions finished out the meet with nine first-place finishes.
Nittany Lion Relays
Nittany Lions Marie Schobel, Carly Hart, Maddie Hart and Olivia Jack led Penn State to a first-place finish in the 200 medley swimming the race in 1:43.82.
Top Individual Performances
Two-time Freshman of the Week recipient Madison Murtagh led the Nittany Lions with two first-place finishes in both the 1000 freestyle and 500 freestyle. Murtagh completed the 1000 free in 10:11.95 and recorded a time of 4:55.64 for the 500 free.
Freshman-sophomore duo Olivia Jack and Jane Donahue led Penn State in two 1-2-3 sweeps for the evening. Jack took home first in the 100 breaststroke (1:03.13) followed by Carly Hart (1:03.83) and Donahue herself (1:05.70). Donahue (2:22.41) led Stephanie Szekely (2:25.19) and Maddie Cooke (2:25.48) in the 200 breast later in the competition.
Maddie Hart came out strong with two first-place finishes in both the 100 backstroke (55.47) and 100 butterfly (55.78). Freshman Brooke Matthias snagged first for her 2:03.93 time in the 200 fly while senior captain Ally McHugh added another winning event to her belt completing the 200 IM in 2:04.37 to take home first.
Head Coach Tim Murphy explained how the team's visit to teammate Nike Nolte earlier in the day fueled the team, "She was getting chemo and waved to us. It was really a precious moment. Niki explained how we made her day, but really it was her who made our day."
Murphy went on to describe a hard-fought battle against the Wildcats, "Villanova gave us a good fight. We had some good races. It was a long day, but it was a good test for us."
"We're less than three weeks away from the Big Ten Championships and I think we put in some really good work," Murphy stated, "We're at the final turn here and I like where the team is right now. It's going to be a huge challenge."
On The Boards
Junior diver Christina Crowell took first place in the women's 3-meter with a score of 267.97 while Kamryn Umbel finished in third place scoring 247.58. Umbel and Crowell brought home second (245.84) and third (219.07) place, respectively, for the 1-meter
Next Up
Penn State heads to Indiana for four days to face their rival schools at the Big Ten Championships. Competition begins Wednesday, Feb. 20 at 6:30 p.m.
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
