COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Penn State women's swimming & diving team narrowly lost to 21st-ranked Ohio State on Saturday, 157-141. This was the program's first official meet of the season following two inter-squad meets in November 2020.
Despite the narrow loss, the women stole the show with eight event wins, two event sweeps, and an impressive 200 medley relay win.
Top Swims
Juniors Brooke Matthias and Marie Schobel led the Nittany Lions with two event wins each. Matthias came out on top in the 100 and 200 butterfly (54.63, 2:01.51) and Schobel in the 100 and 200 backstroke (53.83, 1:57.35).
Schobel recently qualified for US Olympic Trials in the 100 back in November 2020.
Following Schobel in the 200 back for a top-three sweep was senior Stephanie Szekely (1:57.96) and standout freshman Casey Loughlin (2:02.71).
The 100 fly race that was won by Matthias also stacked the scoreboard with a top-four sweep. Coming in second was senior Maddie Cooke (55.33), followed by sophomore Margaret Markvardt (55.59) and junior Madison Ledwith (55.79).
Cooke also impressed with a win in the 50 freestyle (22.78).
In breaststroke, senior Carly Hart led the team with a win in the 100 (1:01.53) and placed second in the 200 (2:16.01).
Junior Sadie Schumann earned a win in the 200 free (1:50.23), closely followed by Camryn Barry (1:50.53).
Markvardt also swam a solid 200 IM time of 2:01.87 that secured her the win in addition to third-place in the 100 fly.
In the 1000 free, junior Madison Murtagh swam for second place (10:08.14).
Top Dives
On the boards, the women took on both Ohio State and Rutgers. Junior Sierra Shurts posted solid scores with a fourth-place finish in the 3-meter (303.05) and sixth place in the 1-meter (268.15). Her 3-meter score is a personal best and both scores were enough to qualify Shurts for NCAA Zones.
Sophomore Wei Wei also dove for personal best scores in the 1-meter (259.10) and 3-meter (274.90).
Nittany Lion Relays
The women got a head start on Ohio State with a 200 medley relay win to start the morning. The team of Schobel, Hart, Cooke, and freshman Cat Stanford finished with a time of 1:40.23.
To finish the meet, the 400 free relay team of Cooke, Schumann, Barry, and senior Elizabeth Gaspari placed second with a time of 3:21.60. Cooke's 50.12 split time to start the relay is a personal best for the sprinter.
Event Winners
200 Free – Sadie Schumann (1:50.23)
100 Back – Marie Schobel (53.83)
100 Breast – Carly Hart (1:01.53)
200 Fly – Brooke Matthias (2:01.51)
50 Free – Maddie Cooke (22.78)
200 Back – Marie Schobel (1:57.35)
100 Fly – Brooke Matthias (54.63)
200 IM – Margaret Markvardt (1:01.87)
Next Up
Penn State Swimming & Diving will travel Evanston, Illinois to face off against Northwestern and Iowa from Friday, January 22 – Saturday, January 23 for their second meet of the season.
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.
Junior Brooke Matthias