Pittsburgh, Pa. – Penn State women's swimming and diving beat Pitt, 196-157, and fell to Notre Dame, 166-187, on the road at Trees Pool in their second meet of the season.
"Very challenging weekend," head coach Tim Murphy said. "A lot of tough and competitive racing and diving from both the men and women's teams. Second meet of the season with a number of building blocks to learn from and technical skills we have to improve. Tough, close losses that hurt, but it's early in our season."
Friday: Day One
The freshman Meisner sisters highlighted Friday's individual competition with wins in the distance events as senior Emma Harvey and junior Cat Stanford saw victory in sprint races.
Catherine Meisner sprinted to first in the 500 Free, winning the event after swimming the only final 50 below 29 seconds.
In the 400 IM, Julia Meisner placed first in 4:25.92, also nearly a second ahead of her competition.
The Nittany Lions swept the 100 Free with Stanford (50.80) leading senior Abbie Amdor (51.11) and junior Mary Brinker (51.21) to second and third.
Emma Harvey collected the 100 Fly in 54.20, out touching Notre Dame's senior Coleen Gillian by 0.29 seconds.
Saturday: Day Two
Graduate student Olivia Jack and Julia and Catherine Meisner commanded the spotlight on day two, clocking three more individual victories for the Nittany Lions.
Graduate student Olivia Jack began Saturday's competition in triumphant style with a blistering 23.16 50 Free, winning the event by 0.04 seconds to Brinker's 23.20. Together, Jack and Brinker captured the Nittany Lions' second one-two finish of the meet.
Julia Meisner earned her second victory of the weekend in a very close 200 Fly, swimming to victory by 0.08 seconds (2:02.27). She later placed second in the 200 IM (2:04.98).
Catherine Meisner represented the Nittany Lions with another individual win in the 200 Free (1:51.01) by almost 1.5 seconds.
Penn State's women finished the meet with several additional top-three finishes. Harvey touched second in the 100 Back (54.88) while junior Kylie Rydland took third in the 200 Breast (2:21.11).
Relays (Combined)
Penn State claimed both relays on Friday. Stanford, Brinker, graduate student Olivia Jack and Harvey won the 200 Free (1:31.77) after sophomore Molly Carson, Jack, Harvey and Brinker opened the meet with a 1.5 second victory in the 400 Medley (3:41.92).
Harvey, Jack, sophomore Maura Fleuhr and Brinker returned to Trees pool and took second in the 200 Medley (1:41.44) Saturday morning, while Stanford, Amdor, Jack and Brinker placed second in the 400 Free (3:23.21) that afternoon.
Diving (Combined)
On the boards, graduate student Daphne Wils led the Nittany Lions with a fourth place in the 3-Meter (255.85).
Event Winners:
500 Free – Catherine Meisner (4:55.67)
100 Free – Cat Stanford (50.80) – PSU sweep
400 IM – Julia Meisner (4:25.92)
100 Fly – Emma Harvey (54.20)
50 Free – Olivia Jack (23.16)
200 Free – Catherine Meisner (1:51.01)
200 Fly – Julia Meisner (2:02.27)
Up Next:
The Nittany Lions return to University Park and welcome West Virginia for their first home meet of the season on Friday, November 4th.
Get the latest news on Penn State swimming & diving by following the team on Instagram (@PennStateSwimDive), Twitter (@PennStateSWIM) and Facebook (Penn State Swimming & Diving).
