UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State swimming & diving team will travel to Princeton for the three-day Big Al Invitational, beginning on Friday and concluding on Sunday in DeNunzio Pool.
The team will compete on Friday starting at 10 a.m. for preliminary races and 6 p.m. for race finals, Saturday will have the same race schedule, and on Sunday preliminary events will begin at 9 a.m. and finals at 5 p.m. The Nittany Lions are going into their mid-season meet with three dual meets under their cap and votes to join the most recent CSCAA top 25 rankings. Penn State will face host Princeton, Columbia, Dartmouth, Brown, University of Denver and Johns Hopkins.
Schedule of Events
Day 1
200 Free Relay
500 Free
200 IM
50 Free
400 Medley Relay
*1-Meter Dive (M)
*3-Meter Dive (W)
Day 2
200 Medley Relay
400 IM
100 Fly
200 Free
100 Breast
100 Back
800 Free Relay
*1-Meter Dive (W)
*3-Meter Dive (M)
Day 3
1650 Free
200 Back
100 Free
200 Breast
200 Fly
400 Free Relay
*Platform Dive
*Will run concurrent with swimming events
The Nittany Lions
On the men's side, the Nittany Lions will be looking to move up in the NCAA and Big Ten rankings. Currently, junior William Roberson ranks third in the Big Ten Conference after swimming a NCAA B-cut qualifying time (19.78) in the 50 free in the Lions' most recent meet against Ohio State and Virginia Tech. This time also ranks him 40th in the NCAA. In addition to Roberson, Michael Daly has also secured a spot on the Big Ten leaderboard. Daly currently sits sixth in the conference in the 1000 freestyle with a time of 9:13:05 and 29th in the NCAA in the same event.
The Penn State women will also look to move up the rankings. Maddie Cooke, who won the 50 free (22.81) in the Ohio State and Virginia Tech meet and currently ranks ninth in the Big Ten and ninth on Penn State's all-time top performers list in the event, while Carly Hart achieved an NCAA B-Cut time in the 100 breast (1:01.78) in the West Virginia meet. Hart is also currently ranked 11th in the Big Ten in the 200 back.
Next Up
Final exams and the team's annual winter training trip to Florida are next. Next semester, the Penn State divers will open the New Year with the three-day Buffalo Diving Invitational, starting Friday, January 10 and concluding Sunday, January 12 while the women's swimmers will host Buffalo in McCoy Natatorium on Friday, January 10 and Saturday, January 11.
Follow the team on Twitter at @PennStateSWIM, on Instagram at @pennstateswimdive, and on Facebook at facebook.com/pennstateswimminganddiving.
