UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa - The Nittany Lions take the road back to Ohio for their second consecutive meet in Columbus, in the Ohio State Invitational. This meet consists of three days of competitions, with both preliminary and final rounds, against eight schools from varying conferences.
The Blue and White will see competition from the following in the men’s competition; Ohio State, Cincinnati, Indiana, Louisville and Yale. The women will see these same opponents, with the addition of Notre Dame and UCLA,
The men enter this competition with a 2-1 record, their lone loss in their most recent meet against Ohio State in a competitive 73-127 finish. The women have gotten a slow start to the season starting off 1-2, their lone victory against the Naval Academy.
Despite their records, both Penn State squads have seen massive improvements in and out of the pool under the leadership of Hollie Bonewit-Cron in her first season as head coach. With noticeable time and endurance improvements made throughout the first three outings this year, Bonewit-Cron feels that her squad is exactly where they want to be in terms of their response to training and success in competitions.
Men
The men’s side returns key contributors from the 2023-24 squad, in Cooper Morley and Mariano Lazzerini. Lazzerini won the Big Ten title for his record-breaking performance in the 100 Breast, and his contributions to the 200 Medley relay with Morley and company brought them to the NCAA championship.
Lazzerini has added two first place finishes in the 200 Breast on the year, and has been a key contributor in the relay teams’ success thus far. Morley remains undefeated in the 100 Back, and tallies two more wins in the 100 Fly in the young season.
Throughout this season, unsung heroes have stepped up to further increase the internal competitiveness within the Nittany Lions roster.
Junior Eduardo Cisternas has been undefeated in the 500 Free, and has performed dominantly in the 1000 Free throughout the young season. Also undefeated on the year is Alex Karahalis, with three consecutive victories in the 200 IM, along with two first-place finishes in the 200 Fly.
Tylor Kim has thoroughly embraced his role with the Nittany Lions early on, as he remains undefeated in the 100 Free, and tallied two more victories in the 50 Free.
The Blue and White have found early success and guaranteed podium finishes in both the 200 and 400 Medley relay teams, as well as the 200 Free relay unit.
Junior Hayden Elliott has tallied podium finishes in each diving event he has competed in thus far, posting season bests in the 1 Meter (333.53) and 3 Meter (336.98), both scores good for an NCAA Diving Zone qualifier.
Women
The Morgan tandem, consisting of Morgan Moore and Morgan Jenny, has found early success in the year. Junior Morgan Moore has added two first place finishes and a career-best swim in the 1000 Free, as well as guaranteed herself podium finishes in the 500 Free through three meets so far.
Morgan Jenny not far behind with podium finishes in both the 500 and 1000 Free events in the first two meets of the year, continuously shaving time off of her personal bests.
Double trouble in the Meisner twins’ has been a highlight of success for the Blue and White this season. Julia Meisner has recorded podium finishes in five competitions this year, spanning three events, consistently in the 200 Fly. Catherine Meisner also consistently lands herself on the podium with her individual success in the 100 and 200 Free events.
Senior Margaret Markvardt has become a prominent contender in the 200 IM, consistently shaving time off of her own records and performances, continually finding herself in podium finishes.
The Nittany Lions are pushing for improvement in the 200 Medley and 400 Free relay teams, each of which has shown promise and improvement throughout each of their appearances this season.
Sophomore Abbey Ekstrom has continued to impress as she has earned four podium finishes on the year, while earning season-best scores in the 1 Meter (278.25) and 3 Meter (285.90), both scores good for NCAA Diving Zone Qualifiers.
For live updates throughout the weekend, follow along @PennStateSwimDive on Instagram, and @PennStateSWIM on X!