ANNAPOLIS, Md - The long awaited return of the swimming season is officially upon us as Penn State swept Navy 172-128 for the mens, and 158-142 for the womens in their season opener at Lejeune Hall.
This marks the women's 13th consecutive victory, and the mens 7th overall win and first on the road since 2014 against the Midshipmen. This also makes for the first Penn State win under new leadership in Head Coach Hollie Bonewit-Cron.
“It feels tremendous to see this team really respond to the training that we’ve been doing over the course of just a few weeks, and I think that what they just did was a testament to their commitment and level of buy-in that they had when we arrived,” praised Bonewit-Cron.
Top Swims:
Junior Morgan Moore tallied the first victory for Penn State on the day in the 1000 Free, with a notable time of 10:08.60, ten seconds faster than her closest competitor. Just eight seconds behind her personal best time of 10:00.80.
On the heels of Moore’s performance, the Nittany Lions swept the podium in the 1000 Free, with Morgan Jenny coming in second with a time of 10:18.36, followed by Keira Reid touching third with a time of 10:30.54.
Junior Catherine Meisner posted a first place finish of her own in the women's 200 Free, with a time of 1:48.60, over three seconds faster than the second place finisher, and just three seconds behind her career record. Meisner was closely followed by freshman Julia Barto who finished in third place with a time of 1:52.75. The New Jersey native recorded another first place finish in the 100 Free, with a speedy time of 51.44.
Both Meisner twins tallied a victory in the season opener, as junior Julia Meisner touched first in the 200 Fly, with a time of 2:03.95.
Maura Fleuhr battled through to a second place finish in the 50 Free, just two one-hundredths of a second behind the event champion, with a time of 23.71.
Freshman phenom Karina Kanary took home a win in her first collegiate outing, touching first in the 200 Breast and posting a time of 2:18.66.
Penn State added another podium sweep in the 500 Free, led by freshman Julia Barto, touching first with a time of 4:59.02. Barto was closely followed by Morgan Moore in second with a 5:01.25, and Morgan Jenny in third with a 5:02.01.
In another 1-2-3 finish, the Blue and White proved dominant in the 200 IM, with all three competitors in the Blue and White finishing within three tenths of a second from one another. The force led by Margaret Markvardt with a 2:04.58 finish, closely followed by a 2:04.66 second place finish from Julia Barto, and concluded in third with Julia Meisner posting a 2:04.87.
Relays
The women got a strong start to the season with their 400 Free relay team starring Ellie Brandbergh, Catherine Meisner, Maura Fleuhr and Margaret Markvardt. The group touched first with a final time of 3:27.66.
The Nittany Lions also tallied a close second place finish in the 200 Medley relay with Molly Carson, Karina Kanary, Margaret Markvardt and Ellie Brandbergh battling through to post a final time of 1:44.9
Diving
The Nittany Lions finished 2-3-4 in the 1 meter dive, led by a close second place finish by Abbey Ekstrom who posted a score of 250.28. She was followed by a third place finish from Grace Brammer with a score of 226.80, and a fourth place finish from Anna Mae King with a 217.73.
Another 2-3-4 finish was in the cards for the Blue and White with another second place finish from Abbey Ekstrom who scored a 246.68, then followed by Anna Mae King in third with a 236.70, and closed out with Grace Brammer who tallied a 224.70.
Winners
1000 Free: Morgan Moore (10:08.60)
200 Free: Catherine Meisner (1:48.60)
200 Fly: Julia Meisner (2:03.95)
100 Free: Catherine Meisner (51:44)
200 Breast: Karina Kanary (2:18.66)
500 Free: Julia Barto (4:59.02)
200 IM: Margaret Markvardt (2:04.58)
The Nittany Lions will go on a three-week hiatus before returning to McCoy Natatorium for their first home meet against Pitt.
For updates on Penn State Swimming and Diving, follow the team on Instagram @PennStateSwimDive and X @PennStateSwim!