ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Day two for Penn State at the Women's Swimming and Diving Big Ten Championships launched Thursday at Canham Natatorium with the 500 free.
"We had people score in all three swimming events and one-meter diving," says Penn State head coach Tim Murphy. "Was delighted to see two of our divers score. We got to watch Daphne Wils on the awards podium celebrating with her team. We have a lot of good things happening, we just need more scoring. We have 24 swims and four divers going tomorrow. We need to be tough in the morning."
"Daphne (Wils) was solid today," says Penn State head diving coach Jeff DiNicola. "She is hungry for more but still put together two good lists that put her in contention to medal. Wei (Wei) also scored today holding together where she needed."
Top Swims:
Freshman Catherine Meisner and junior Anna Redican recorded lifetime bests for their performances in the 500 free during the preliminary round. Meisner finished in the top 20 for her event and continued onto the finals. Later, she swam to drop 0.25 seconds from her time and finished at 4:47.68.
Junior Abby Henderson and freshman Julia Meisner completed the 200 IM with lifetime bests at 2:00.94 and J. Meisner the later at 2:01.93. Henderson continued onto the finals and finished at 2:00.04, dropping 0.90 seconds from her preliminary race in the morning.
In the final races of the morning, senior Emma Harvey took on the 50 free and sprinted up the Penn State leaderboard. Having finished the preliminary race at 22.61, Harvey's time is now tied for ninth overall in the Penn State women's program top times for this event. Later in the finals, Harvey earned an NCAA B-Cut for her seventh place finish at 22.67.
Relays:
Molly Carson, Liv Jack, Emma Harvey, and Mary Brinker complete the 400 Medley Relay at 3:36.66 for an eighth place finish.
Top Dives:
Following preliminary events, Daphne Wils became the first female diver from Penn State to advance to the finals in the past decade. She qualified first on the 1-meter dive, scoring a 308.46 to advance. Later in the final round, Wils lands a fourth place finish scoring 311.45 on the 1-meter dive.
Up Next:
The Nittany Lions women's squad continues on to day three of the Big Ten Championships Thursday.
Keep up with Penn State swimming and diving by following the team on Instagram (@PennStateSwimDive), Twitter (@PennStateSWIM) and Facebook (Penn State Swimming & Diving).