The Virginia men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams completed action against Penn State and Michigan Saturday (Nov. 8) at the McCoy Natatorium. The Cavalier women (1-1) defeated No. 6 Michigan, 184.5-168.5, but fell to the No. 18 Nittany Lions, 183-170. The Cavalier men (1-2) fell to top-ranked Michigan, 247-102, and No. 18 Penn State, 212-136.
Junior Courtney Bartholomew (Holland, Mich.) earned her third individual event win of the weekend, claiming the women’s 100 back in a time of 53.30. Bartholomew won the 200 IM and 200 back Friday evening.
Sophomore Laura Simon (Simmern, Germany) and junior Yannick Kaeser (Mumpf, Switzerland) clinched a Cavalier sweep in the breaststroke events, with Simon winning the women’s 200 event in 2:15.38 and Kaeser taking the men’s 200 in 2:00.83. Both won their respective 100 breast events Friday.
Senior JB Kolod (Pittsburgh, Pa.) won the men’s 3-meter diving event with a score of 360.90. Kolod captured the 1m diving event Friday. Junior Carl Buergler (Arlington, Va.) was third on 3m with a score of 309.95.
In the women’s 100 fly, senior Ellen Williamson (Ft. Mitchell, Ky.) touched first in a time of 54.19, while the women’s 200 medley relay team of Bartholomew, Simon, Williamson and sophomore Shannon Rauth (Glenmoore, Pa.) placed second in 1:41.78.
The Cavaliers picked up second-place finishes from a pair of sophomores in the 200 free, with Austin Quinn (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) placing second in the men’s race in 1:39.93, while Leah Smith (Pittsburgh, Pa.) was runner up in the women’s event in 1:49.16. Junior Rodney Fentress (Virginia Beach, Va.) touched third in the men’s 1,000 free in 9:23.50.
The women’s 400 free relay of Rauth, sophomore Ellen Thomas (Guildford, United Kingdom), freshman Caitlin Cooper (Atlanta, Ga.) and Williamson placed third in 3:24.26.
Up next, the Cavaliers face NC State on Nov. 15 at the Aquatic and Fitness Center at 3 p.m.
The No. 20 Penn State women’s swimming and diving team overcame a day-one deficit to defeat Virginia, 183-170, but fell to No. 6 Michigan, 178-175, at the McCoy Natatorium Saturday. The 200-yard medley relay team and the 400-yard freestyle relay team each set pool records.
“We did a lot better job this morning of getting our hands on the wall before Virginia and Michigan than we did yesterday,” said head coach Tim Murphy. “There were a lot of good things. It hurts to come up a couple of points short (against Michigan). I think we can build off the meet from a momentum standpoint.”
Penn State won five of the 10 events on the day and moved to 8-1 on the season. Penn State beat Virginia for the first time since picking up a 218-134 win on Nov. 10, 2007. Junior Alyson Ackman (Montreal, Quebec) led the squad, placing first in two individual events and helping two record-setting relay teams.
The Nittany Lions started off the day with a record-setting performance in the 200 medley relay. The team of junior Allie Pennetti (Wexford, Pa.), sophomore Katie Saloky (Bloomsburg, Pa.), senior Carolyn Fittin (Sea Girt, N.J.) and Ackman set the pool record, taking first place with a mark of 1:41.48.
Senior Megan Siverling (Chester Springs, Pa.) followed that up by getting a hand on the wall first in the 1000-yard freestyle, clocking in at a personal best time of 9:48.52.
Ackman continued the winning streak to start the meet, clocking in at 23:34 in the 50 free. Later, Ackman touched the wall first in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:47.93, a season-best for the team and an NCAA “B” qualifying time.
In the final event of the day, the 400-yard freestyle relay team of Ackman, Saloky, junior Kaitlin Jones (Midlothian, Va.) and Fittin set a pool record with a mark of 3:20.44.
Mackenzie Cornell led the team’s divers, placing third with a score of 256.20.
Penn State is back in action that the Georgia Fall Invitational from Dec. 5-7 in Athens, Georgia.
The No. 16 Penn State men's swimming and diving team bested Virginia, 212-136 but fell to Michigan, 212.50-140.50, in dual meet action upon the conclusion of a two-day meet at McCoy Natatorium on Saturday.
The Nittany Lions (5-2) earned four wins on the day, with Shane Ryan's (Havertown, Pa.) pair of titles to leading the pack. Nate Savoy (Reading, Pa.) set a second pool record during the meet with his second win of the weekend, while Matt Stasiunas (Avondale, Pa.) took home gold in the 200 free for the second time this season.
Ryan captured the 50 free title with a 20.33 mark and the 100 fly after swimming to a 49.21 time.
Savoy set the pool record in the 100 back, placing first after he touched the wall in 47.87. Yesterday, his 1:46.08 time in the 200 back was a McCoy Natatorium best.
Stasiunas also took first during the day after he topped the field in the 200 free, clocking in at 1:39.63.
After taking second in both relays yesterday, the Nittany Lions continued the trend today. In the 200 medley relay, the team of Savoy, Schuehler, Madley and Ryan posted a 1:29.08 time. Savoy, Stasiunas, Jeff Young (Hershey, Pa.) and Ryan swam to a 2:58.44 mark in the 400 free relay.
Also taking second was David Gross (Perryville, Md.), whose 3:59.37 mark in the 400 IM placed him second.
On the 3-meter board, T.J. Schenkel (Richboro, Pa.) took second with a season-best 311.15 score. His 312.45 score on the 1-meter board was good enough for third.
Penn State returns to action at the Georgia Fall Invitational from Dec. 5-7 in Athens, Ga.
Senior Carey Chen of the No. 6-ranked University of Michigan women's swimming and diving team capped a strong weekend in the diving well by capturing a win on one-meter Saturday (Nov. 8), to lead Michigan to a tri-meet split with a narrow win over No. 20 Penn State 178-175 inside McCoy Natatrioum. The Wolverines dropped their dual with Virginia 184.50-168.50.
The Maize and Blue remains perfect in Big Ten duals with a 4-0 record.
The Nittany Lions nearly nipped the Wolverines on the final event of the meet, but a disqualification called on U-M was overturned by the officials. In the 400-yard medley relay, the timing system showed that Claudia Goswell left the blocks early. The race officials DQ'ed Michigan's A relay, which wound up in second. But after consulting a video replay, that DQ was reversed. U-M's second-place finish in the event stood, and the Wolverines secured enough points to top Penn State.
Chen, a native of Vancouver, British Columbia, swept the springboards in the tri-meet. She won Saturday's one-meter competition with a mark of 297.45, edging teammate Sarah Kamstra who finished second at 291.75. Both divers finished well in front of Penn State's Mackenzie Cornell who's score of 256.20 was good enough for third place. On Friday (Nov. 7), Chen claimed first on three-meter with a new personal best (321.65).
With today's scores, both Chen and Kamstra easily eclipsed their previous season bests on one-meter of 278.45 and 270.70, respectively.
Michigan's only other individual win came in the 400-yard individual medley when Marni Oldershaw clocked in at 4:21.56 to take first. The junior finished in front of teammate and second-place finisher Hannah Moore. Those points came in the second-to-last race of the meet and were crucial for the Maize and Blue.
Although U-M did not take any other events, the Wolverines finished in bunches to score points throughout the meet. In the 1,000-yard freestyle, U-M's distance swimmers finished 2-3-4: Moore (9:48.89), Gillian Ryan (10:03.41) and Kelsey Cummings (10:04.47).
The 100-yard backstroke featured a 2-3 finish by Michigan freshman Clara Smiddy (54.76) and senior Claudi Lau (56.06). In the 200-yard breaststroke, freshmen Emily Kopas and Samantha Yeo placed third and fourth, respectively.
Junior Ali DeLoof delivered a second-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle with her mark of 23.23. She missed out on first place by .02 seconds (PSU's Carolyn Fittin at 23.21). Ryan had another third-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle (1:50.02).
Michigan's squad will split for its next two competitions. The divers will head to the Dowd Nike Cup Invitational Nov. 20-22 in Chapel Hill, N.C. The swimmers will be off for nearly a month, and will next race Dec. 3-6 at the U.S. Winter National Championships in Greensboro, N.C.
