University Park, Pa. – Penn State women's swimming & diving beat West Virginia, 208-92 Friday at McCoy Natatorium.
Graduate student Daphne Wils highlighted the team, breaking two sets of school and pool records in the 1-Meter and 3-Meter Dives during her first meet at McCoy Natatorium.
"A couple of objectives," said Penn State head coach Tim Murpy. "We won the meet, and I spoke to girls about staying focused and really challenging themselves. That's both in the water, on the boards, and then as a team outside. I think we did some good things. I was more keeping track of where we were focusing our effort. I know there were some good swims in there. There was some tough racing, which we appreciate. We needed to get a real clear look at them, and we did need to win. We needed to get a real clear look at where they're at this point in time ,and we've got a championship format mid-season meeting in 10 days or so. I thought they challenged themselves, which is what I wanted. Good step forward, a lot of things to take from the meet."
The men's squad takes the pool and the boards tomorrow, Saturday, November 5 at 11 a.m.
Top Swims:
Freshman Catherine Meisner claimed two freestyle events for the Nittany Lions, out-touching her competition by 0.12 seconds in the 500 (4:55.95) and cruising to first in the 200 (1:49.12).
The Nittany Lions won both fly events with junior Morgan Rinn and graduate student Brooke Matthias taking the top spots in the 200 (2:02.55) and the 100 (55.94).
Senior captain Emma Harvey led her team to sweep the 100 Back, touching in 54.56 as sophomore Molly Carson (55.57) and junior Ellie Brandbergh (56.11) followed her to the next two places. Later, in the 200 Back, junior Abby Henderson (2:01.35) and senior Shannon Meadway (2:01.95) placed first and second.
Penn State's sprint freestylers demonstrated their strength, sweeping the top-four places in the 50 Free with Mary Brinker (23.28) leading Amdor, Ellie Tiskus and Marly Lough to the wall. Amdor then returned to the water 30 minutes later to capture the 100 Free (51.17).
Henderson earned her second individual victory of the meet, winning the 400 IM in 4:27.08.
Relays:
Penn State began and finished the evening in victory as Carson, Jack, Harvey and Brinker won the 200 Medley Relay (1:40.88) before sophomore Stanford, Amdor, Tiskus and Brinker secured the 400 Free Relay (3:25.18).
Top Dives:
Wils captured both the pool and school records in the 1-Meter and 3-Meter Dives, placing first in both events with NCAA Diving Zone scores of 312.00 and 356.10.
Senior captain Wei Wei also impressed on the boards, earning zone scores and personal records in the 1-Meter (289.35) and 3-Meter (301.43).
"I think the women dove fantastic," said head diving coach Jeff DiNicola. "It's the best collective diving that I've seen from the women's team in a long time, and I am really happy for them. Lots and lots of positives, obviously a few things we still need to work on."
"I thought the divers really, top to bottom, did a real nice job," added Murphy. "They struggled at our last meet and now a complete, complete turn around. Just one dive at a time, and they really challenged themselves and responded well. So that was real nice to see. They gave us real good momentum off the boards."
Event Winners:
200 Free – Meisner (1:49.12)
100 Back – Harvey (54.56)
200 Fly – Rinn (2:02.55)
50 Free – Brinker (23.28)
100 Free – Amdor (51.17)
200 Back – Henderson (2:01.35)
500 Free – Meisner (4:55.95)
100 Fly – Matthias (55.94)
400 IM – Henderson (4:27.08)
1-Meter – Wils (312.00) *
3-Meter – Wils (356.10) *
*NCAA Diving Zone Cut
Up Next:
Following the same schedule of events, the men face the Mountaineers Saturday at 11 a.m. in McCoy Natatorium.
Keep up with Penn State swimming and diving as they return to the pool by following the team on Instagram (@PennStateSwimDive), Twitter (@PennStateSWIM) and Facebook (Penn State Swimming & Diving).
