Ball State
The Ball State women's swimming and diving team wrapped up its regular season action Sunday afternoon at the Ohio State Winter Invitational. Freshman Courtney Mudd earned an individual win in the 200 individual medley.
After clocking a 2:14.11 in the preliminaries, Mudd improved on that time by five seconds to finish with a first-place time of 2:08.85 to earn the only Ball State win at the invitational. Senior Jackie Iglesias turned in a time of 2:17.58 in the preliminaries. Mudd finished in fourth place in the 50 free finals with a 24.87 after clocking a 24.78 in the preliminaries.
Freshman Genevieve Hayes finished in fourth place in the 1650 free with a time of 18:15.96. Hayes also finished ninth in the 200 back finals with a 2:19.93 after touching at 2:16.39 during the preliminaries. In the 200 back finals, senior Jackie Iglesias turned in a fourth-place time of 2:05.912.
The Ball State women's swimming and diving team will travel to the MAC Championships which will be held at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio Thursday, Feb. 27 to Saturday, March 1.
Penn State received four first-place finishes on Sunday at the Ohio State Invitational to push its two day total up to seven wins. Nittany Lion swimmers to touch the wall first on Sunday included Harrison Grimm (Fairview, Pa.), Larry Virgilio (Pine Bush, N.Y.), Philip Kang (Leonia, N.J.) and Tim Maurer (Hershey, Pa.).
Grimm was the first member of the Blue and White to pick up a win on Sunday, racing to a time of 2:03.87 in the final of the 200 breaststroke, the fastest mark of the season in the event. Grimm was followed by Max Byers (Glenn Carbon, Ill.) in the race, who claimed second place with a time of 2:04.05, a personal-best mark.
The Nittany Lions managed to grab first and second place in the shortest race of the day, the 50 freestyle. Virgilio swam a season-best time of 20.85 in the final to record the win, while Peter Fittin (Sea Girt, N.J.) was right behind with a time of 20.94, his best mark of the season, for second place.
Kang posted his best time as a Nittany Lion in the 200 butterfly, finishing in 1:50.03 to win the event. The freshman qualified for the final by touching the wall in 1:51.42 in the prelims.
Maurer recorded his second first place-finish in as many days by nearly shaving two seconds off his previous career-best time of 1:53.65 in the 200 IM with a mark of 1:51.77 in the final. Byers recorded a second place finish for the second time on Sunday with a time of 1:52.42 in the event, his best time of the season.
Another notable finish was turned in by Andrew Eiken (Naperville, Ill.), who finished second in the 200 freestyle. The sophomore turned in his best time of the season in the final by swimming to a mark of 1:40.27.
The Nittany Lions now have a few weeks off of competition, as the squad prepares for the Big Ten Championships in Ann Arbor, Mich. The four-day competition is slated to begin on Wednesday, February 26 and conclude on Saturday, March 1.
Penn State Women
The Nittany Lion women’s swimmers closed out the Ohio State Invitational with a great final day of competition, posting six victories in individual competitions. Allie Pennetti (Wexford, Pa.), Jenna Bickel (Slingerlands, N.Y.), Sarah Somers (Haverford, Pa.), Hannah Matheson (Skillman, N.J.) and Bridget Moody (Port Washington, N.Y.) each picked up at least one win on Sunday in the unscored invite.
Pennetti was the standout swimmer on Sunday, as the sophomore was the only Nittany Lion to record first place finishes in multiple events. The Wexford native kicked off the finals with a win in the 200 freestyle event by touching the wall in 1:54.28 with teammate Kerry Treusdell (Churchville, Md.) finishing just behind with a time of 1:54.36 for second. Pennetti followed the victory up with a career-best time of 23.58 in the 50 freestyle to tally her second win of the day.
Another event that saw Penn State swimmers set personal-best marks was the 200 butterfly. Matheson and Annie Valentine (Dearborn, Mich.) each set career-fastest times, with Matheson earning the top spot with a mark of 2:01.32 in the final followed by Valentine’s time of 2:03.64 for second place.
Somers also had an impressive Sunday, grabbing first and second place finishes in the finals. The senior raced to a season-best time of 2:19.88 to reach the top of the podium in the 200 breaststroke and followed it up with a second place finish in the 200 IM, touching the wall in 2:09.30.
The Nittany Lions claimed the top two spots in the 200 backstroke event. Bickel turned in a time of 2:00.41 in the event, her best time of the season, to win the final, while Brynja Winnan (West Windsor, N.J.) was the second to the wall with a season-best time of 2:03.37.
The Blue and White ended its stay in Columbus in impressive fashion, posting a one-two finish in the grueling 1650 freestyle competition. Moody earned the victory with a dominating time of 16:45.06 and Treusdell picked up a second place finish for the second time of the day with a mark of 16:59.05 in the race.
Up next for the team is the Big Ten Championships which begins on Wednesday, February 19 and wraps up on Saturday, February 22. The four-day event will take place in Minneapolis, Minn.
