BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Penn State women's swimming and diving team is set to compete at the Big Ten Championships hosted by Indiana University at the Counsilman Billingsley Aquatic Center Wednesday through Friday.
PARKING
The parking lots surrounding the Counsilman Billingsley Aquatics Center are permit only and are not open to fans. Anyone parking in these lots are subject to being ticketed and towed. Only those with valid ADA parking permits will be allowed to park in the CBAC parking lot. All others should park in Memorial Stadium Green Lot (Gate12) or Orange Lot (Gate 4).
- Parking is Free in the Memorial Stadium lots
- Shuttle is Free and will run every 15 minutes
- Shuttle service will begin 2 hours prior to the start of each session and will end 45 minutes after the conclusion of each session
- ADA Parking is free and located next to the CBAC. Must have a valid ADA parking permit
SCHEDULE
The event begins at 6:30 p.m. ET Wednesday with the timed finals of the 200-yard medley relay and 800-yard freestyle relay. Preliminary heats will begin at 11 a.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with the finals scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. each night.
Wednesday, Feb. 20 – RELAYS at 6:30 p.m.
200 Medley Relay
800 Freestyle Relay
Thursday, Feb. 21 – PRELIMS at 11 a.m.
500 Freestyle
200 Individual Medley
50 Freestyle
1-Meter Diving – Trials (1 p.m.)
1-Meter Diving – Consolation Final
Thursday, Feb. 21 – FINALS at 6:30 p.m.
500 Freestyle
200 Individual Medley
50 Freestyle
1-Meter Diving
400 Medley Relay
Friday, Feb. 22 – PRELIMS 11 a.m.
100 Butterfly
400 Individual Medley
200 Freestyle
100 Breaststroke
100 Backstroke
3-Meter Diving – Trials (1 p.m.)
3-Meter Diving – Consolation Final
Friday, Feb. 22 – FINALS at 6:30 p.m.
100 Butterfly
400 Individual Medley
200 Freestyle
100 Breaststroke
100 Backstroke
3-Meter Diving
200 Freestyle Relay
Saturday, Feb. 23 – PRELIMS at 11 a.m.
200 Backstroke
100 Freestyle
200 Breaststroke
200 Butterfly
Platform Diving – Trials (1 p.m.)
Platform Diving – Consolation Finals
Saturday, Feb. 23 – FINALS at 6:30 p.m.
1650 Freestyle (first heat – 4:15 p.m.)
200 Backstroke
100 Freestyle
200 Breaststroke
200 Butterfly
Platform Diving Finals
400 Freestyle Relay
COVERAGE
The four-day meet is scheduled to commence with relay finals Wednesday at 6:30 p.m., and continue Friday through Saturday with preliminaries starting at 11 a.m. and finals at 6:30 p.m. All sessions will be streamed live via BTN Plus on BTN2Go. Complimentary access to BTN2Go is available to viewers connected to the internet network of a Big Ten university. Fans elsewhere can sign up for the pay-per-view webcasts.
THE MEET
The Nittany Lions will face some of the toughest competition in the country as six conference teams enter the event as members of the Top 25. Michigan leads the conference ranking second in the nation followed by No. 11 Indiana, No. 15 Ohio State No. 17 Wisconsin, No. 18 Minnesota and No. 23 Northwestern.
Penn State is looking to improve on its eighth-place finish last season. Michigan won its third consecutive conference crown, compiling 1,465 total points during the four-day event. Indiana finished second with 1,152.5 points, Ohio State placed third with 1,094.5 points, Minnesota was fourth with 1,049 points and Wisconsin rounded out the top five with 755 points.
ALL-B1G RETURNERS
Ally McHugh looks to add to her Big Ten medal collection. McHugh took home first place in the 1,650 freestyle last year, finishing the race in a blistering 15:43.24. She not only shattered her own Penn State record of 15:59.03, but broke the Big Ten Championships meet record of 15:44.93 set the previous year by Michigan's G Ryan.
McHugh also claimed silver in the 400 individual medley, nearing her own school record in 4:06.43. She also broke her school record in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:38.44, shaving 0.33 seconds off her previous record.
B1G CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
Penn State has claimed three Big Ten women's swimming championships (2002, 2005, 2006) and 42 individual championships since first competing in 1992.
FREESTYLE
McHugh is among the NCAA and Big Ten leaders in the distance events, entering the meet ranking first in the mile (15:41.36) and third in the 500 free (4:38.46). Her time in the mile is one of just two NCAA A-cuts this year, trailing Hawaii's Phoebe Hines by just one-hundredth of a second. Additionally, sophomore Camryn Barry (16:37.04) and three-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week honoree Madison Murtagh (16:45.76) rank in the top 25 in the conference in the mile. Barry also ranks in the top 25 for the 500 free with a best time of 4:49.69.
Barry also leads Penn State in the 200, ranking 17th in the conference (1:47.90). Senior Katrina Kuhn (23.26) and freshmen Olivia Jack and Madison Ledwith (23.63) have paced Penn State in the 50 free, while Ledwith (50.84) and sophomore Elizabeth Gaspari (50.90) have done the same in the 100.
BREASTROKE
Sophomore Carly Hart leads Penn State in both the 100 and 200 breasts this season, owning a B-cut in the 100 (1:01.58) and a top time of 2:16.42 in the 200. Freshman Olivia Jack also owns an NCAA B-cut time in the 100 (1:01.75), and both her and Hart rank in the top 20 in the conference in the event. Senior Alex Tulacz is not far off Hart's pace in the 200 at 2:16.76.
BACKSTROKE
Junior swimmer Maddie Harts ranks 14th in the conference for both the 100 and 200 backstroke to lead Penn State in both. Hart owns a pair of NCAA B-cut times in the events with 53.64 in the 100 and 1:56.72 in the 200.
BUTTERFLY
Hart is also a top performer in the butterfly for Penn State this season, ranking fifth in the conference for the 100 fly (52.36) and ninth for the 200 (1:58.10). Both of her top times have made the NCAA B-cut.
INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY
McHugh's NCAA B-cut time of 4:07.89 in the 400 individual medley places her third overall in the conference for the race.
DIVING
Both Christina Crowell and Kamryn Umbel rank within the top 50 in the conference for the 1-meter and 3-meter, respectively.
NEXT UP
The Penn State women will have a last chance meet at Liberty in Lynchburg, Virginia beginning Mar. 1 before the NCAA Zone A Diving Championship on Mar. 11 and the NCAA Championships on Mar. 20.
A fundraiser was launched to support freshman women's swimmer Nikolette Nolte and her family for costs associated with her leukemia treatment. Any surplus funds will be donated to THON and the Jessie Rees Foundation to help others facing pediatric cancer. Donate at gopsu.info/nikistrong
Check GoPSUSports.com for coverage of the Penn State swimming and diving teams during the season. Follow the team on Twitter at @PennStateSWIM and on Facebook at facebook.com/pennstateswimminganddiving.
