IOWA CITY, IOWA – Maddie Hart set a new Penn State record in the 200 backstroke to cap a standout performance at the Big Ten Women's Swimming & Diving Championships at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium Saturday.
The Nittany Lions finished in eighth place as a team, totaling 517.5 points, which was an improvement of one place and 113.5 points from 2019's total.
Hart placed fourth in the 200 back with her school-record performance as one of her three championship finals appearances at the meet. She also placed third in the 100 fly (51.80) and sixth in the 100 back (52.78) on day three finals.
The Nittany Lions combined for eighteen top-16 finishes, including school record-breaking 200 medley relay and 400 medley relay efforts.
"As a whole, we did some really good things. We want to get better, we need to get better. As I said to the team we need to put ourselves at risk, but it's worth it. They can feel good about what they've done and hopefully they won't be satisfied so the people that are coming back will do whatever it takes to get second swims," said head coach Tim Murphy.
Top Swims
Penn State started Saturday evening with Hart's fourth-place finish in the 200 back (1:53.37). Her finals swim broke the school record that she set eight hours previously in the prelims with a time of 1:53.42. The record entering the meet was 1:53.56 by Amy Modglin in 2011.
Also in the 200 back, Marie Schobel finished ninth (1:55.06) and Stephanie Szekely finished 15th (1:57.73) to score more points for the Nittany Lions. Schobel swam for a career best in the 200 back prelims (1:55.56), only to beat it again in the finals.
Brooke Matthias continued her solid performance in butterfly events with a 10th place finish in the 200 fly (1:58.17)
Sophomore Madison Murtagh led Penn State in distance with an 11th-place finish in the 1650 free (16:24.87).
In the 100 free, Abbie Amdor swam 49.78 for 15th place in the B finals, and was preceded by Kate Sheridan's 50.16 swim from C finals. Sheridan came close to her 50.00 personal best that she swam in prelims.
Carly Hart swam for 24th in the 200 breast finals with a time of 2:14.24.
Earlier in the meet, Maddie Cooke achieved a personal best and eighth place finish in the 50 free (22.49).
Another top eight finisher and A finals qualifier was Madison Ledwith when she swam 53.75 in the 100 fly on day three.
Top Dives
The divers competed in the platform on day four and sophomore Sierra Shurts led the Nittany Lions with a 19th-place finish with a score of 193.5, which was the first time a Penn State women's diver has scored in the platform since in at least thirteen years.
In the 3-Meter, senior Christina Crowell placed 14th after prelims and moved up to 12th overall in the semifinals, making her the highest scoring Penn State women's diver since Lisa Silvestri placed in the top eight in the 1-Meter and 3-Meter in 2004.
Nittany Lion Relays
Penn State swam for sixth place in the 400 free relay with a team of Amdor, Cooke, Sheridan, and Gaspari.
On days one and two, the women broke two relay school records in the 200 medley relay (1:37.09) and 400 medley relay (3:33.26), scoring major points for the Nittany Lions. The record-breaking 200 medley relay consisted of Schobel, Carly Hart, Maddie Hart, and Cooke, while the 400 medley relay team was Schobel, Carly Hart, Maddie Hart, and Amdor.
Next Up
The women will swim for NCAA and Olympic Trial cuts at the Last Chance meet in Columbus, Ohio on Sunday, Mar. 1.
Check GoPSUSports.com for coverage of the Penn State swimming and diving teams during the season. Follow the team on Instagram at @pennstateswimdive, Twitter at @PennStateSWIM and on Facebook at facebook.com/pennstateswimminganddiving.
