UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa - The Mountaineers traveled the country roads to Happy Valley as the Nittany Lions closed out their home slate, and celebrated their incredible senior class. The Blue and White dominated the competition, earning a 189-91 win to close out their regular season schedule.
In dominant fashion, Penn State swept the first twenty events, and concluded with only one individual event loss between the men’s and women’s competition, putting them in a prime position to come up with another weekend win.
Top Swims
Graduate student Margaret Markvardt started the day strong with a first place finish in the 100 Back with a 53.01. Markvardt was followed by senior Molly Carson, who followed swiftly behind, touched third with a 55.68.
The Nittany Lions swept the podium in the 50 Free as Markvardt earned her second win of the day with a 22.67 finish, followed by Maura Fluehr in second with a 23.57, and Katie Ketter in third with a 23.80.
Markvardt tallied her third win of the day in the 100 Free, with a 49.24 finish, followed by Fluehr in third with a 51.72.
The former Mountaineer Mackenzie Pagett earned her first win of the season in the 100 Breast, with a 1:02.50 finish, tightly followed by freshman Audrey Cohen with a 1:02.72 in second.
Pagett and Cohen tallied another 1-2 finish in the 200 Breast, Pagett taking gold with a 2:16.77, and Cohen a tight second with a 2:16.82.
Senior Maura Fluehr swam a fast first place finish in the 100 Fly, with a 53.81, followed by Casey Loughlin in second with a 54.37.
The Morgan mayhem continued, as junior Morgan Moore added another gold to her collection with a 9:56.97 finish in the 1000 Free.
Catherine Meisner went two-for-two on the weekend winning the 200 Free with a 1:46.23, followed by Morgan Jenny in third with a 1:50.99.
The other half of the twin tandem, Julia Meisner, earned a victory of her own in the 400 IM with a swift time of 4:19.88, followed by Keira Reid in second place with a 4:25.55.
Casey Loughlin took a big win on her senior day with a 2:01.02 finish in the 200 Fly, followed by junior Delaney Burns in third with a 2:05.44.
Relays
The 400 Free relay earned a dominant first place finish in the 400 Free relay, with contributions from Catherine Meisner, Margaret Markvardt, Maura Fluehr and Morgan Moore, the team finished with 3:20.26, a six second lead over the nearest competitor.
Diving
Grace Brammer and Abbey Ekstrom fought to the finish in the three meter dive, Brammer taking first with a 297.98, and Ekstrom in second with a 291.98.
A podium sweep played out for the Nittany Lions as Brammer finished first in the one meter with a 292.65, Kailey Koval in second with a 283.43, and Ekstrom in third with a 279.15.
Event Winners
100 Back - Margaret Markvardt (53.01)
100 Breast - Mackenzie Pagett (1:02.50)
100 Fly - Maura Fluehr (53.81)
1000 Free - Morgan Moore (9:56.97)
200 Free - Catherine Meisner (1:46.23)
50 Free - Margaret Markvardt (22.67)
400 IM - Julia Meisner (4:19.88)
100 Free - Margaret Markvardt (49.24)
200 Breast - Mackenzie Pagett (2:16.77)
1 Meter - Grace Brammer (292.65)
3 Meter - Grace Brammer (297.98)