2007-08: Sarah continued to swim middle and distance freestyle events, as well as the occasional butterfly race, and was successful in several of the relay events. She was named to the Academic All-Big Ten Winter Honors in elementary and kindergarten education. Sarah had fourth-, ninth- and tenth-place finishes at the Big Ten Championships in Columbus, Ohio. Sarah just missed out on points by .04 seconds with a 17th-place finish in the 1650 free at the Big Tens. She knocked nearly two seconds off of her preliminary time - just a half-second short of NCAA [apos]A[apos] time - at the [apos]B[apos] finals of the 200 free while gaining ninth place. She had a fourth-place finish in the 800 free relay, which was two seconds better than last year[apos]s timing in that event. Sarah earned 10th place in the 500 free and her 200 relay team posted an NCAA [apos]B[apos] time that was only .7 off an [apos]A[apos] automatic qualifier. For the season, she was apart of ten first-place relay teams and had two individual first-place finishes. She also placed second nine total times. Meet-by-Meet Highlights: Sarah finished in second in the 200 free at Rutgers....Won the 100 free and 200 free relay against West Chester....Came in second in the 500 free in a penta-meet at Pittsburgh. Her 400 free relay team won with a time that was seven seconds better than second-place Maryland and her [apos]A[apos] 400 medley team team took first with a time four seconds faster than the next finisher....Was victorious in the 200 fly in 2:07.19 in a tri-meet at Florida Gulf Coast....At the Hoosierland Open Invitiational, Sarah came in eighth in the 1650; second in the 400 medley relay; third in the 400 free relay, 800 free and 200 free relay; fifth in the 200 medley relay; and sixth in the 500 free....Took two events - the 200-medley relay and 400-free relay - at the Penn State Quad Meet...Tagged second in the 400 medley relay and 200 and 500 freestyle events.
2006-07: Sarah moved from the sprint and short distance freestyle events as a freshman to the middle and distance freestyle events as a sophomore last year, swimming primarily in the 200, 500 and 1650 freestyle events. She scored in all three of those events at Big Ten Championships, placing 14th in the 200 free, 14th in the 500 free and 12th in the 1650 free, swimming her fastest times of the year and her career in all three events in the process. She also swam her fastest career time in the 100 free in one of the only two times she swam that event during the year. During the season, she was a part of three first place relay teams and she also had two second place finishes and two third place finishes in individual events. Sarah narrowly missed out on an NCAA invite, as she recorded NCAA `B[apos] qualifying times in the 200, 500 and 1650 free. She also had the fifth-fastest times of the year on the team in both the 200 and 500 free, and the fourth-fastest in the 1650 free._Meet-by-Meet Highlights: Began her season by finishing fourth in the 200 free and being a part of the first place 400 free relay team and the fourth place 400 medley relay team in the opening meet of the season at West Virginia....Picked up points for Penn State with a 13th place finish in the 1500-meter freestyle at the Bell Grand Prix....Came in second in the 1000 free, over nine second ahead of the third place finisher, in the dual meet vs. Ohio State....Had her best meet of the year at the Shamrock Invitational as she swam her career-best time in the 100 free, finishing sixth, her third fastest career time in the 200 free to finish third, her career best in the 500 free to finish fifth, and her career best in the 1650 free to finish seventh....Also was a part of two first place relay teams at the Shamrock Invitational, the 400 free and 800 free and was also a part of the fourth place 200 free relay team.
2005-06: Sarah swam mainly in middle distance freestyle events as well as on several relay teams during her inaugural campaign. She was a part of three first place relay teams throughout the year. She also swam the 200 IM twice on the year and finished second in one of those races. Other notable finishes include a third place in the 50 free against Kenyon as well as a second place finish in the 100 backstroke vs. West Chester. She also swam a long distance race once, the 1650 freestyle, at the Ohio State Invitational and picked up points in that race for the Nittany Lions with a 10th place finish._Meet-by-Meet Highlights: Placed seventh in the 100 free, fourth in the 50 free and was on the fourth place 200 and 400 free relay teams at the Indiana/Ohio State/Penn State tri-meet....Swam leadoff on the winning 200 medley relay team and finished second in the 200 IM in the dual meet vs. Kenyon....Placed fifth in the 200 free and fourth in the 500 free in the dual meet vs. Rutgers....Finished third in the 50 free in the dual meet vs. St. Bonaventure....Picked up points for Penn State in the 200 free with a fifth place finish and also finished fourth in the 500 free in the dual meet at Florida....Picked up points for the Nittany Lions as a member of the 200 free relay team (8th place), 200 medley relay team (9th place), 400 free relay (8th place) and in the 1650 free (10th place) at the Ohio State Invitational....On the second place 200 medley relay team and placed second in the 100 backstroke in the dual meet with West Chester....On the fourth place 200 free relay team and the third place 400 free relay team at the Auburn/Purdue/Virginia/Penn State quad-meet....A member of the first place 400 free relay team and placed third in the 200 free at the Arizona State/UCSB/Penn State tri-meet....Fifth in the 500 free at the Arizona/Wisconsin/Penn State tri-meet....Finished second in the 200 free and was on the first place 400 free relay team in her initial collegiate competition, the dual meet vs. West Virginia.
High School: Baker swam at Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax, Va., for coach Tracey Blaine. She was a three-time state champion, winning the 500 and 200 free titles in 2004 and the 200 title in 2005 (she was runner-up in the 500 free). She was outstanding at the 2004 Junior National event in Orlando, placing second in the 500 free and 10th in the 200 free. At the Junior National event at Stanford, she was 12th in the 400 free and fourth in the 200 free.
Personal: Baker is the daughter of Bill and Cindy Baker. Her mother, Cindy is a Penn State alum and was a member of the swimming team. She has four sisters as well and is an elementary education major at Penn State.
Why I Chose Penn State: 'I chose Penn State for the school[apos]s atmosphere, the academics and the team[apos]s diversity and closeness.'
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