PRINCETON, N.J. – The Penn State women's swimming & diving team is in second place with 308 points after its first of three days of competition at the Princeton Big Al Invitational meet.
The Nittany Lions trail host Princeton by 65 points heading into the second day of competition. Penn State opened the meet with 11 swimmers and divers scoring with top-10 finishes.
On the team's performance today, head coach Tim Murphy said, "Today's performances were solid. We need to get better as the meet progresses and step up our level of competition."
Top Swims
Junior Maddie Cooke had a career day with her win in the 50 freestyle finals. She swam a career-best time of 22.52, winning the 50 free for the second meet in a row. Her swim also earned her the fifth-fastest time in Penn State history.
Sophomores Elizabeth Gaspari and Olivia Jack also placed in the top-10 in the 50 free, earning them a swim in the A-final. Gaspari swam for fifth place (23.26) and Jack placed eighth (23.53).
Freshman Margaret Markvardt had a standout swim in the 200 IM, winning the race with a time of 2:01.18, which was also a career best. Senior Heather McDougall came in second (2:01.33) in the same race.
In the 500 free, three Nittany Lions placed in the top eight in the A-finals. Sophomore Madison Murtagh swim for fifth place with a time of 4:50.80, junior Stephanie Szekely placed sixth (4:51.12), and junior Camryn Barry placed seventh (4:53.40).
Top Dives
On the boards, senior Christina Crowell placed in the top10 in the 3-Meter finals. Sophomore transfer Sierra Shurts dove for a personal best score and freshman Meredith Canova also qualified for the 3-Meter finals.
Nittany Lion Relays
The women took first in the 400 medley relay finals with a season best time of 3:36.37 with a team consisting of Marie Schobel, Carly Hart, Maddie Hart, and Abbie Amdor. The 200 free relay team of Cooke, Gaspari, Markvardt, and Ellie Tiskus placed second with a time of 1:32.24.
Next Up
Penn State will continue competition in Princeton, N.J. for the second day of the Princeton Big Al Invitational meet. Preliminaries will begin at 10 a.m. and finals will begin 6 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 , on Instagram at @pennstateswimdive , and on Facebook at facebook.com/pennstateswimminganddiving.
