COLUMBUS, Ohio - Penn State closed out competition on day three of Big Tens, with major contributions from its star swimmer in Margaret Markvardt to keep the Nittany Lions afloat.
Day three of competitions consisted of both the preliminary and final races of the 100 Fly, 400 IM, 200 Free, 100 Breast, 100 Back, and 3 Meter dive.
Fifth-year senior Margaret Markvardt started off strong in the first event of the day, swimming for a new career-best time of 51.96, finishing second overall and qualifying for the A-group final. In the final, the Estonia native finished in 8th place with a 52.55.
Senior Maura Fluehr also completed and finished in the C-group final with a 53.66, following her 53.34 in the preliminary round.
Junior Julia Meisner and freshman Julia Barto represented the Nittany Lions in the 400 IM preliminaries, Meisner finishing in 4:19.47, and Barto in 4:21.43.
Junior Catherine Meisner had a dominant day in the 200 Free, swimming for a 1:46.32 in the preliminaries, and capping off the finals with a career-best time of 1:45.74.
Freshman Audrey Cohen swam for a new career best in the 100 Breast, finishing with a 1:01.93 in the preliminary competition, the fastest Nittany Lion finisher.
Marvardt was the quickest of the Nittany Lions in the 100 Back, finishing with a 53.02 in the preliminary competition, and a 53.67 in the finals, to land herself a fifteenth place finish.
Freshman Grace Brammer finished thirteenth in the three meter diving finals, with a 293.25.
The 400 Free relay, consisting of Margaret Markvardt, Audrey Cohen, Maura Fluehr and Catherine Meisner finished 11th with a 3:38.40.
Competition resumes Saturday, February 22nd at 10 a.m. in Columbus, for live updates on your Nittany Lions, tune into @PennStateSwimDive on Instagram, and @PennStateSWIM on X.