UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa - The biggest stage is set as the Penn State women’s Swimming and Diving teams head to Columbus, Ohio to compete in the Big Ten Championships, events starting on Wednesday, February 19 and going through Saturday, February 22.
The Big Ten is currently home to seven of the nation's top 25 teams, anticipating a great weekend of competition, led by Indiana who enters the weekend in search of their second consecutive conference championship.
Penn State enters off of a 4-5 season, with two of those losses coming from Big Ten opponents in Ohio State and Northwestern.
In the 2023/24 season, the Nittany Lions finished 9th at Big Tens, their last conference championship dating back to the 2005/6 season.
Last year, the 400 Free relay swam for the fifth fastest time in Penn State’s Big Ten championship history, at the hands of Margaret Markvardt, Catherine Meisner and Maura Fluehr.
Athletes to Watch:
Junior Morgan Moore has dominated the distance swims, recording top-five finishes in every outing in each of her events this season. Moore has earned two career-best times in Columbus this season, a 4:45.11 at the Ohio State Invitational, and a 9:41.82 in the 1000 Free in the Ohio State dual.
Senior Margaret Markvardt has dominated across all her events this season, earning three personal best times and “B” Cut finishes in the 100 Back, 100 Fly and 200 IM. Markvardt ranks 4th all-time for Penn State in the 200 IM 1:58.15
The Meisner twin tandem has found success all season in their respective events; Catherine Meisner earning lots of podium finishes in 200 Free this season, looking to top her career best time from last year’s Big Ten Championship. Julia Meisner is looking to top her career-best times from the 2023 Big Ten Championships in the 200 and 400 IM.
On the diving platform, Abbey Ekstrom and Grace Brammer have been deeply successful, both posting NCAA qualifying scores in the one and three meter competitions this season.
Competitions begin at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, and will be going through Saturday night. For live updates on your Nittany Lions, tune into our Instagram @PennStateSwimDive, and X @PennStateSWIM for more information.