UNIVERSITY PARK, PA— Penn State swimming & diving will honor its' 14 seniors this weekend as they conclude their regular season against Michigan State. The divers will kick off the weekend at 5:45 p.m. on Friday, followed by the swimmers who are slated to begin at 6:15 p.m.
Competition will pick back up Saturday morning at 10 a.m. as the women's team will face-off against the Spartans and host their Senior Ceremony. The men's team will follow with their meet at 2:30 p.m. where they will also celebrate their seniors.
The entire meet will be streamed on BTN+ and you can follow stats live on Meet Mobile.
The Senior Men
The men's team will honor seven of it's members on Senior Day including NCAA qualifiers Gabe Castano, William Roberson, and Juliusz Gosieniecki. Last season, Castano won silver in the 50 free at the Big Ten Championships. His time of 19.06 ranked him as the fifth-fastest in the nation for the event and earned him second-fastest in program history. Along with an individual NCAA bid, Castano joined Roberson and Gosieniecki as members of the 200 free relay that broke the school record last season. Their time of 1:17.38 qualified the relay for the NCAA Championships. Although the Championships were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all three men were named CSCAA All-Americans.
Individually, Roberson swam for fifth-place in the 50 free at the 2020 Big Ten Championships with a personal-best time of 19.40 to earn third-fastest in school history. He also holds all-time top times in the 100 free at sixth and 100 back at ninth.
Gosieniecki ranks fifth individually in the 100 fly while and is also a member of the second-fastest 800 free relay (6:24.00) and third-fastest 200 medley relay teams (1:25.35). Last season, he earned CSCAA Scholar All-America honors for his academic performance.
Hayden Harlow will also be among those honored this weekend. Currently, he owns three individual top-10 times in the Penn State record books, highlighted by a second-place performance in the 200 IM, followed by fourth in the 400 IM, and fifth in the 200 breast. He's also thrived in the classroom earning Academic All-Big Ten, Big Ten Distinguished Scholar, and CSCAA Scholar All-America honorable mention recognition.
Along with Harlow, fellow senior Eben Krigger has also etched his name in the record books as a member of the third-fastest 800 free relay team in program history. Additionally, Krigger found success in the classroom, earning Academic All-Big Ten honors for two consecutive years.
Jacob Deckman has earned points for the Nittany Lions at the Big Ten Championships throughout his career, and excelled in the classroom as a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and two-time Academic All-Big Ten recipient.
Rounding out the group is senior diver Bryce Hoch who is a four-time NCAA Zones qualifier. Last season, he was a NCAA Zone A Regional finalist in the 1-meter and platform events.
The Senior Women
The women's team is led by seven seniors, six of whom are competing this weekend: Camryn Barry, Maddie Cooke, Elizabeth Gaspari, Carly Hart, Erika Marlin, Stephanie Szekely, and Kamryn Umbel.
Cooke has led the team in the past couple seasons in the 50 free, with her best time of 22.45 at the 2020 Big Ten Championships ranking sixth-fastest all-time for Penn State and eighth place at the meet. She also ranks (tied) at fifth-fastest in the 100 breast (1:00.83). Cooke swam for an Olympic Trials cut time (25.75) in the 50 free LCM from the Princeton Invitational last season. She is also a member of the 200 medley relay school record (1:37.09) team alongside senior teammate Hart.
She has also performed well in academics, notching Academic All-Big Ten, Big Ten Distinguished Scholar, and CSCAA Scholar All-America Honorable Mention awards in 2020.
Another prominent leader on the team is breastroker Hart. At Big Tens her sophomore and junior year, Hart scored in the 100 breast, along with the 200 breast from Big Tens in 2020. Hart also has an Olympic Trials cut in the 100 breast LCM with a time of 1:10.90, and ranks eighth all-time in the 100 breast (1:00.93) in Penn State history. This season, Hart placed first in the 100 breast (1:01.53) and second in the 200 breast (2:16.01) against Ohio State and Rutgers, leading the Nittany Lions in both races.
In academics, Hart has also flourished with Academic All-Big Ten, Big Ten Distinguished Scholar, and CSCAA Scholar All-America Honorable Mention honors in both 2019 and 2020.
Szekely, a backstroker, flyer, IMer and occasional distance freestyler has seen steady improvement over her four years with the team. At this season's Ohio State meet, Szekely placed second in the 200 back (1:57.96) directly behind junior teammate Marie Schobel. At the 2020 Big Ten Championships, Szekely scored in the 200 IM, 400 IM and 200 back. Her 200 back performance (1:56.73) led her to eighth-fastest all-time for Penn State.
Academically, Szekely has excelled with Academic All-Big Ten and CSCAA Scholar All-America Honorable Mention honors in 2019 and 2020, alongside a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar award in 2020.
Barry has led the seniors and the team in distance free, performing best in the 200, 500, and 1000. When she was a freshman, she scored at the 2018 Big Ten Championships in the 1650 (mile) and has since excelled academically with Academic All-Big Ten honors in 2019 and 2020. This season, Barry stood out in the 200 and 500 free, placing second (1:50.53) and third (4:58.17) at the Ohio State meet. In terms of academics, Barry earned Academic All-Big Ten honors in 2019 and 2020.
In her four years with the team, Gaspari has excelled as a sprint freestyler. This season Gaspari has led Penn State in the 100 free, placing fourth (51.36) at the Ohio State meet and third (50.19) at the Northwestern-Iowa tri-dual meet. Her most recent 100 free performance left her only .03 seconds behind her personal best of 50.16. Academically, Gaspari has succeeded with Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and Academic All-Big Ten awards in 2019 and 2020.
As one of two senior divers, Umbel has been consistent throughout her career and has especially blossomed in her senior year. She qualified and competed at NCAA Region A Zones in her freshman and sophomore year in the 1-meter. Umbel also posted two top-ten finishes against Northwestern and Iowa two weeks ago. Umbel has also been successful academically with Academic All-Big Ten honors from 2019 and 2020.
The final senior competing is Erika Marlin, who leads the Nittany Lions in her work ethic and positive attitude. As a breaststroker and flyer, Marlin has steadily improved throughout her four years swimming for Penn State. She achieved personal bests in the 100 breast (1:06.11) and 100 fly (57.63) at 2020 Big Ten Championships, and was an Academic All-Big Ten recipient in 2019 and 2020.
The Nittany Lions
The men's swim team is coming off their second meet of the season after facing Iowa and Northwestern in a tri-dual meet in late January. Junior Carlos Vasquez led the men with two third-place finishes in the 100 fly (48.58) and 200 fly (1:47.68). Additionally, multiple Nittany Lions earned career-best times in their respective events. Freshman Zach Brewer swam his bests in the 200 free (1:41.40) and 1000 free (9:22.26), while fellow newcomer Calvin Wise earned his in the 200 fly (1:51.47). Sophomore Mikey Challis also swam a personal-best in the 100 breast (56.69) for sixth and freshman Jacob Oberle secured fourth in the 200 back for his swim of 1:54.95. The men's diving team last competed at Ohio State where senior Bryce Hoch represented the Nittany Lions in the 1-meter and 3-meter dives. His score of 340.28 in the 3-meter qualified him for NCAA Zones.
The women's team is also coming off their second meet of the season, beating Iowa and falling to Northwestern. They raced for eight top-five finishes and junior Niki Nolte, two-time cancer survivor, swam in her first full collegiate meet.
Senior Stephanie Szekely had a solid meet, placing second in the 200 backstroke (1:59.82) and fourth in the 400 IM (4:22.00). Junior Brooke Matthias finished second in the 100 butterfly (54.10). Freshman Cat Stanford stood out in this meet, placing third in the 50 freestyle (23.38). She also swam well in the 100 free with a time of 50.90, placing fourth directly behind senior teammate Elizabeth Gaspari (50.19).
The Spartans
The men's team has only competed in one contest so far this season due to COVID-19 issues that withheld them from earlier competitions. They are currently 0-1 after falling to Big Ten rival Michigan, 137-77, in late January.
The Spartan women also lost to Michigan, 146-107, but notched a win against the Rutgers women, 185-48.
The Penn State women are 9-0 all-time against Michigan State with their first contest being in 1991. Last season, the women outscored Michigan State 517.5-203, coming in eighth and 12th respectively.
Unfortunately, Michigan State University has decided to cut the Michigan State swimming & diving program following the 2020-21 season, so this weekend's dual meet will likely be the last regular season meet in Michigan State program history.
Next Up
Penn State women's swimming will head to Minneapolis, Minnesota for the Big Ten Championships from Tuesday, Feb. 23 to Saturday, Feb. 27, while the men will head to Columbus, Ohio to compete in the Big Ten Championships from Tuesday, Mar. 2 to Saturday, Mar, 6.
Both men's and women's diving will compete in a combined Big Ten Championship meet in West Lafayette, Indiana from Wednesday, Feb. 24 to Saturday Feb. 27.
Follow the team on Twitter at @PennStateSWIM, on Instagram at @pennstateswimdive, and on Facebook at facebook.com/pennstateswimminganddiving
