GREENSBORO, N.C. – Penn State women's swimming and diving wrapped up competition at the N.C. State Invitational Saturday at the Greensboro Aquatic Center against Duke, Arizona State, Army, George Washington, UNC Asheville and nationally ranked Stanford and NC State. Daphne Wils's pair of diving victories, a third-place relay finish and multiple additions to the program record book highlighted a weekend of competition.
At the conclusion of the meet, Penn State women scored 1,158 points and placed fourth overall.
"The team took a big step forward this weekend," said Penn State head coach Tim Murphy. "Now it's time to know how to be better."
Top Swims:
On the final day of the invite, the Nittany Lions sent 19 athletes to finals.
Morgan Moore (16:43.11) and Courtney Marlin (16:56.44) finished eighth and ninth in the 1650 Free.
In the 200 Back, Molly Carson, who touched 12th with a new team season top-time of 1:58.19, led the way with Krista Marlin taking 13th (1:58.99), Shannon Meadway 14th (1:59.22) and Casey Loughlin 15th (1:59.45).
Mary Brinker (50.26) and Cat Stanford (50.01) scored for the sprint squad in 16th and 18th place. Stanford's time is a season-top for the program by nearly a second.
Kylie Rydland represented the team in B-Final of the 200 breast, swimming to 15th overall (2:19.20).
Led by Morgan Rinn in 12th (2:00.76), seven Nittany Lions took home points in the 200 Fly: Julia Meisner (13th, 2:01.62), Brooke Matthias (15th, 2:03.28), Devon Forker (17th, 2:01.76), Casey Loughlin (18th, 2:02.86), Mac Sulivan (20th, 2:03.98) and Delaney Burns (23rd, 2:08.20).
Relays:
To conclude the weekend's competition, the team of Stanford, Emma Harvey, Olivia Jack and Brinker swam to sixth in the 400 Free relay (3:18.64).
Dives:
On the boards, Wils scored 208.05 points, Charlize Beniquez took 182.00 and Wei Wei earned 177.20, placing them fifth, eight and 11th.
Weekend Highlights:
Catherine Meisner and Emma Harvey inked their names into the Nittany Lions' program top-times sheet and earned NCAA B-Cut times in each of their respective events.
C. Meisner's 200 Free time of 1:47.09 is the Nittany Lions' sixth fastest, while in the 100 Back, Harvey's 53.63 earned her the eight-quickest spot.
On the boards, Wils won the 1 and 3-Meter dives with 315.80 and 334.60 points.
Additionally, the 200 Free relay team placed third as Brinker, Harvey, Tiskus and Jack swam to a 1.46 second season best of 1:30.31.
Event Finalists:
Saturday, November 19:
200 Back – Krista Marlin, Carson, Casey Loughlin, Shannon Meadway, Anna Redican, Ellie Brandbergh
100 Free – Mary Brinker, Cat Stanford, Catherine Meisner, Olivia Jack, Abbie Amdor
200 Breast – Rydland
200 Fly –Rinn, Meisner, Brooke Matthias, Mac Sulivan, Devon Forker, Delaney Burns, Casey Loughlin
Friday, November 18:
400 IM – Meadway, Henderson, Forker
100 Fly – Harvey, Fluehr
200 Free – C. Meisner, Amdor, Moore, J. Meisner, Stanford, Redican, Brinker
100 Breast – Jack, Rydland
100 Back – Carson, Harvey, Loughlin, Redican, Margaret Mabry
1-Meter – Wils, Wei
Thursday, November 17:
500 Free – C. Meisner, Moore
200 IM – Henderson, Meadway, J. Meisner, K. Marlin
50 Free – Brinker, Harvey, Jack, Tiskus, Amdor, Stanford, Brandbergh, Carson, Lough
3 Meter – Wils, Wei
Up Next:
Final exams and winter break training are next for the Nittany Lions. This coming semester, the Nittany Lions will open the new calendar year at home against Army on Friday, January 13.
Keep up with Penn State swimming and diving by following the team on Instagram (@PennStateSwimDive), Twitter (@PennStateSWIM) and Facebook (Penn State Swimming & Diving).
