Penn State Men and Women Defeat Rutgers

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pennsylvania, Janaury 21, 2007. THE Nittany Lions showcased their depth in Saturday's swimming meet with Rutgers as the women placed the top three finishers in five events and the men placed the top three in two to defeat the Scarlett Knights on both the men's and women's side at McCoy Natatorium. The men's team won 15 of 16 events to top Rutgers 204-88, improving their record to 4-6. Remaining undefeated in dual meets, the women won 12 of 16 events for the 195-105 win to improve to 7-0 on the year.

Karie Haglund lead the women's team by sweeping both the 100 and 200 fly events, breaking the McCoy Natatorium record in the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:59.93. The previous record was 2:00.48 and was set in 2002. Behind Haglund, Kailey Morris and Kelly Nelson finished second and third. Haglund also made her fifth NCAA qualifying time of the year: one ‘A' and four ‘B' cuts, with a time of 2:02.56 in winning the 200 IM, well under the ‘B standard of 2:04.13. Her three first place finishes on the day gave her seven first place finishes on the year and her time in the 200 fly was her third-fastest of the year.

Sean Biedermann led the men's team by finishing first in the 100 breast with a time of :59.38 in his first time swimming that event this year. He also won the 100 free with a season best time, :46.34 and was part of the first place 400 freestyle relay team.

Mike Alderman swept the men's diving events with his highest point total of the year in the three-meter of 362.45 and second highest score in the one-meter at 335.63. He now has six first place finishes this year. Pat Bukowski also earned a season high score 224.25 in the three-meter event. Kim Peifer won the one-meter springboard by only a .22-point differential (270.15 to 269.93). It was her fourth first place finish in that event. Courtney Adlam won the three-meter event with a score of 299.40 for her fourth win this season and her second highest score of the year.

The Nittany Lions dominated the distance freestyle events. The women claimed the top two finishes in the 1000 free and top three finishes in the 500 free. Claire Hawley made her third first place finish of the year her first first place in the 1000 free. Nikki Collins, with a time of 10:02.95, beat her own performance at yesterday's dual meet against Ohio State by nearly five-and-a-half seconds. In the 500 free, Sarah Baker swam 4:55.83, a season best time. The men claimed the top three finishes in the 1000 free and won the 500 free. David Kraft had his second first place finish of the season in the 1000 and the 500 free victory was Ben Ryan's first career win.

The women also took the top three finishes in the 200 free. Molly Crispell finsished first for the third time this year in the 200. Jessica Barnes swam her fastest time of the year in the 200 free, 1:51.19, also her third fastest career time. Baker also had a season best time in the 200 free at 1:52.39 . Patrick Schirk won the 200 free for the men, which was his fifth first place finish of the year. Jonathan Cochrane swam his fastest time of the year of 1:41.81 in that event.

In the 100 back, the women finished in the top top three as well as Daphne Skelos, Kaitlyn Ferguson and Erin Morris took the top three spots. Skelos also won the 200 back to sweep both backstroke events. One the men's side, Daniel Fimbianti also won both backstroke events, taking the 100 in :51.86 and the 200 in 1:51.11. Andrew Criner swam a personal best time of the year of :53.50 in the 100 back.

Although it was a close finish in the 200 breast, Kaitlin O'Brien won by .05 of a second to earn her eighth first place finish overall this year, just edging out Rutgers' Shayna Longacre. Caitlin Meehan set a season personal best in the 100 breast at 1:04.79 in finishing second. Genie Cheng swam a season best time :24.17 in the 50 free and placed fourth as Michelle Myers led the Nittany Lions in that event with a second place finish at :23.73. Rob Felty swam his fastest time of the year 21.20 in the 50 free, winning his first top finish in an individual event this year.

The Nittany Lions will have just one more meet before the Big Ten Championships. Both the men's and women's teams will head to Notre Dame next weekend for the Shamrock Invitational, January 26-27. In addition to the Nittany Lions and the host Irish, that meet will also feature West Virginia, UConn and Oakland.

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