ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Penn State women's swimming and diving concluded the women's B1G Championships Saturday, sending swimmers to finals in every event throughout the four-day meet at Canham Natatorium.
"I asked this team throughout the year to get better," said Penn State head coach Tim Murphy. "We did that. I asked them to contribute to making this team and program better. We did that. Very proud of each of our student athletes individually and collectively. The Penn State women's swimming and diving team has a great deal to be proud of. They did that."
Saturday:
Penn State's 400 Free relay highlighted its final day of competition at the women's conference championships. Catherine Meisner, Emma Harvey, Abbie Amdor and Cat Stanford cut two seconds from their time and out touched Minnesota for sixth by less than two tenths.
The women's distance squad also saw success in the 1650 Free. Freshman Morgan Moore (16:42.45) and senior Courtney Marlin (16:48.29) both set season bests in timed finals, placing them 15th and 16th.
Morgan Rinn's victory in the C-Final of the 200 Fly rocketed the junior to 17th in the B1G with a time two seconds quicker than her race in prelims.
Stanford and Amdor added more points to the Nittany Lions' tally, finishing third (49.34) and fourth (49.55) in the C-Final of the 100 Free for 19th and 20th overall.
Abby Henderson led the team in scoring points in the 200 Back in 20th (1:57.88) with Casey Loughlin and Shannon Meadway close behind in 21st (1:58.02) and 24th (1:48.72).
Junior Kylie Rydland represented Penn State in the 200 Breast, notably swimming two seconds faster than she did in prelims for 21st (2:15.89).
Friday:
The Nittany Lions sent 10 athletes to Friday's evening session, including championship finalists C. Meisner and Daphne Wils.
Wils gained her second appearance in the A-Finals, qualifying in the 3-Meter Dive during prelims and placing seventh in the conference that evening (317.25).
Standout freshman C. Meisner led the team in the pool, making her first championship final appearance in the 200 Free and scoring 23 points in seventh place (1:45.96).
Penn State captured its third top-eight finish of the day in the 200 Free relay, Mary Brinker, Harvey, Ellie Tiskus and Stanford tied for fourth alongside Minnesota (1:29.50).
Harvey scored twice. In the 100 Fly she placed 13th as graduate student and teammate Brooke Matthias finished 24th (54.98). Later, the senior won the C-Final of the 100 Back (53.44), competing alongside junior Loughlin (54.01). Together they took 17th and 20th before Molly Carson raced in the B-Final for 15th (53.89).
Three student-athletes swam their way to finals in the 400 IM. Junior Henderson (4:16.06), freshman Julia Meisner (4:16.54) and senior Meadway (4:20.84) earned a combined 22 points, finishing 14th, 18th and 23rd.
Graduate student Olivia Jack represented Penn State in 12th place in the 100 Breast (1:01.41).
Thursday:
Wils impressed during the morning prelims session as the first female diver to advance to finals from Penn State in the past decade. Qualifying first on the 1-Meter, the graduate student placed fourth in finals with a score of 311.45.
The Nittany Lions earned another top-eight finish in the 400 Medley relay. Carson, Jack, Harvey and Brinker touched eighth in 3:36.66.
Six more swimmers earned spots in finals for the 50 Free, 200 IM and 500 Free.
Led by Harvey, who qualified and placed 15th (22.67), four Penn State athletes stamped their tickets to finals in the 50. Stanford (22.93), Brinker (22.99) and Tiskus (23.14) all competed in the C-Final and received points for 20th, 21st and 24th.
C. Meisner represented the Nittany Lions in the 500, swimming a lifetime best in prelims before returning to drop further time in finals for 22nd (4:47.68).
The team took more points in the 200 IM with Henderson. The junior set two consecutive personal records in prelims and finals, improving by nearly 1.5 seconds (2:00.04) to place 19th.
Wednesday:
The women's squad opened their B1G campaign with two top-eight finishes in both Wednesday night relays. The 200 Medley team, Carson, Jack, Harvey and Brinker swam to fifth in the third-fastest time in program history (1:37.51). C. Meisner, Stanford, Henderson and Amdor then raced to sixth in the 800 Free (7:08.67).
Point Scorers:
Saturday:
200 Back – Abby Henderson (5 Points), Casey Loughlin (4 Points) and Shannon Meadway (1 Point)
100 Free – Cat Stanford (6 Points) and Abbie Amdor (5 Points)
200 Breast – Kylie Rydland (4 Points)
200 Fly – Morgan Rinn (9 Points)
1650 Free – Morgan Moore (12 Points) and Courtney Marlin (6 Points)
400 Free Relay – Catherine Meisner, Emma Harvey, Abbie Amdor and Cat Stanford (48 Points)
Friday:
100 Fly – Emma Harvey (14 Points), Brooke Matthias (1 Point)
400 IM – Abby Henderson (13 Points), Julia Meisner (7 Points) and Shannon Meadway (2 Points)
200 Free – Catherine Meisner (23 Points)
100 Breast – Olivia Jack (15 Points)
100 Back – Molly Carson (12 Points), Emma Harvey (9 points) and Casey Loughlin (5 Points)
3-Meter – Daphne Wils (23 Points)
200 Free Relay – Mary Brinker, Emma Harvey, Ellie Tiskus, Cat Stanford (51 Points)
Thursday:
500 Free – Catherine Meisner (3 Points)
200 IM – Abby Henderson (6 Points)
50 Free – Emma Harvey (12 Points), Cat Stanford (5 Points), Mary Brinker (4 Points) and Ellie Tiskus (1 Point)
1-Meter – Daphne Wils (26 Points), Wei Wei (1 Point)
400 Medley Relay – Molly Carson, Olivia Jack, Emma Harvey and Mary Brinker (3:36.66)
Wednesday:
200 Medley Relay – Molly Carson, Olivia Jack, Emma Harvey and Mary Brinker (50 Points)
800 Free Relay – Catherine Meisner, Cat Stanford, Abby Henderson and Abbie Amdor (48 Points)
Up Next:
The men's squad travels to Canham Natatorium to complete at their B1G Championships beginning next Wednesday.
Keep up with Penn State swimming and diving by following the team on Instagram (@PennStateSwimDive), Twitter (@PennStateSWIM) and Facebook (Penn State Swimming & Diving).
