MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA – Penn State women's swimming began individual competition on Wednesday evening for day two of 2021 Big Ten Championships in the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center at the University of Minnesota.
The Nittany Lions achieved two top-16 finishes, five more top-24 finishes, and three career bests on day two of Big Ten competition.
Top Swims
In the B-finals, senior Maddie Cooke swam for 11th place and third in her heat with a career best time of 22.39. That time also bumped her up to fourth-fastest all-time in the 50 free for Penn State and earned her another NCAA B-Cut time.
Sophomore Margaret Markvardt placed 14th in the 200 IM B-finals with a time of 2:00.54. Her prelims time of 1:59.39 was a career best and an NCAA B-Cut.
Freshman Cat Stanford impressed in the C-finals of the 50 free with a first place (17th overall) time of 22.95.
Senior Elizabeth Gaspari swam for a career best in the 50 free (22.95) at prelims.
Nittany Lion Relays
Penn State began day one with a fourth-place swim in the 200 medley (1:38.14) with a team of Marie Schobel, Carly Hart, Markvardt, and Cooke.
Next Up
The women's team will continue competition on Thursday with prelims beginning at 12 p.m. ET/11 a.m. ET and finals starting at 7:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. CT. The Big Ten Diving Championships begin Thursday at 1:20 p.m. ET/ 12:20 p.m. CT at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.
All sessions will be streamed live via BTN Plus with live stats available on Sidearm and Meet Mobile.
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.