PRINCETON, N.J. – The Penn State women's swimming & diving team remains in second place with 745.5 points after its second of three days of competition at the Princeton Big Al Invitational meet.
The Nittany Lions trail host Princeton by 54 points heading into the third day of competition after trailing by 65 after day one. Penn State swam for five first place finishes and nine top-five finishes.
Coach Murphy had this to say about the women's team on day two: "Both the men and women swam with more determination today. The women will need an excellent morning to catch Princeton. That being said, we are here to see how good we can be over three days. Tomorrow should be a nice challenge for us!"
Top Swims
Senior Maddie Hart had an exemplary day with two first place finishes in the 100 butterfly (52.78) and 100 backstroke (53.21).
Freshman Abbie Amdor also swam for first in the 200 freestyle (1:47.12), which is a career best and her second win in the race this season.
Junior Maddie Cooke had another standout day with her win and career best in the 100 breaststroke (1:01.02), barely edging out fellow junior Carly Hart (1:01.04). Cooke won the 50 free on day one with a career best time of 22.52.
Marie Schobel, Stephanie Szekely, Olivia Jack, and Camryn Barry all placed in the top five in finals as well. Schobel placed second in the 100 back (54.00), Jack placed third in the 100 breast (1:01.45), and Barry placed third in the 200 free (1:48.76). Szekely placed in multiple races: placing fourth in the 400 IM (4:18.65) and 100 back (55.12).
Top Dives
On the boards, senior Christina Crowell placed fourth in the 1-Meter finals with a score of 268.50. Freshman Wei Wei came right behind Crowell, placing fifth with 256.25 as her score.
Nittany Lion Relays
The women took first in the 200 medley relay (1:38.96) finals with Schobel, Carly Hart, Maddie Hart, and Cooke, and then third in the 800 free relay (7:20.94) with Barry, Heather MacDougall, Elizabeth Gaspari, and Sadie Schumann. The 200 medley relay win builds off of their 400 medley win on day one.
Next Up
Penn State will continue competition in Princeton, N.J. for the third and final day of the Princeton Big Al Invitational meet. Preliminaries will begin at 9 a.m. and finals will begin 5 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.
Senior backstroke and butterfly swimmer Maddie Hart