The Penn State women’s swimming and diving team was victorious in six of the seven events it entered at the Bison Invite Saturday in Bucknell’s Kinney Natatorium.
Mackenzie Cornell (Germantown, Md.) swept the two diving events, scoring a career-best 303.15 in the 3-meter and winning the 1-meter with a score of 275.85. Meredith Harbison (Butler, Pa.) joined her on the podium in the 1-meter, placing third at 246.90.
The Nittany Lions saw their most success as a team in the 100 freestyle, as Kaitlin Jones (Midlothian, Va.) led a sweep of the top five places. Jones touched in 51.41 seconds, and was followed in order by Haley Sinatro (West Hartford, Conn.) in 51.42, Casey Francis (East Meadow, N.Y.) in 52.20, Mackenzie Hornibrook (West Chester, Pa.) in 52.78 and Kerry Treusdell (Churchville, Md.) in 53.39.
The Lions opened the meet with a dominant performance in the 200-yard freestyle relay, placing three teams in the top four places, led by the ‘A’ team of Tara Rogers (Lansdale, Pa.), Sarah Baxter (Canadaigua, N.Y.), Niki Price (Manchester, Pa.) and Anna Farnsworth (State College, Pa.) in a winning 1 minute, 34.90 seconds.
The Blue and White accomplished the same feat in the 100 backstroke, as Farnsworth touched the wall first in 56.70 seconds, while Francis was second (57.46) and Price was fourth (58.81).
Additionally, Caitlyn Karr (Reading, Pa.) won the 100 breaststroke in 1:06.16 and Emily Harris (Downington, Pa.) led Penn State in the 200 individual medley, touching second just over two-tenths of a second behind the first-place finisher.
The meet was unscored and featured nine different schools from the region.
Next week, individuals can again elect to compete in the Virginia Tech Invitational Feb. 7-8, but the next team event will be the Big Ten Championships, Feb. 18-21, hosted by Ohio State. Penn State finished third at last season's Big Ten Championship hosted by Minnesota.
The Penn State men’s swimming and diving team only sent three divers to this weekend’s Bison Invite, but the trio made their presence felt, sweeping both the one and three meter competitions. Travis Wright (Derby, N.Y.) and T.J. Schenkel (Richboro, Pa.) made diving coach Dennis Ceppa proud as they combined for a total of four medals on Saturday at Bucknell’s Kinney Natatorium.
Wright took first place in the one meter with a season best score of 321.65 and then Shenkel claimed the silver with his 275.45 tally. Finishing in fourth was freshman Connor Scanlon (Laurel, Md.), who earned a 270.55 mark.
It was another Blue and White diver claiming gold in the three meter as Shenkel, for the third time in as many meets had the highest score. His 330.30 was the second best mark he achieved all season and right behind him was Wright, who put a 298.75 tally up on the board, good enough for second place. Like in the one meter, Scanlon also finished fourth with a respectable 275.55 score.
The Lion swimmers and divers will both next be in action next weekend, as they travel to Virginia for the second time this season to take part in the Virginia Tech Invitational. In October, PSU competed against Old Dominion and Virginia Tech in a double-dual format, but it will mark the first time this year they’ll be competing in the Commonwealth at an open invite.
