Fresh off of sweeping the Big Ten weekly swimming awards, the Penn State men and women's swimming and diving teams will serve as host for this weekend's dual meet against West Chester.
The event will be held at 1 p.m. tomorrow at the McCoy Natatorium, as the Nittany Lions will attempt to continue their dominance against the Golden Rams. The women hold an 11-1 all-time series record, including a 165-75 win last season at University Park. The men also have the Rams' number, boasting a perfect 5-0 record after a 150-86 victory last year.
The Lions are coming off of an impressive showing at the Bell Grand Prix, where they finished third out of 69 teams competing.
In the event, several swimmers achieved good enough times to qualify for the NCAA Championships, while sophomores Kelly Nelson and Tim Williams were awarded both the men's and women's Big Ten weekly swimming awards. Williams was also recognized as the top swimmer in the nation last weekend, receiving the National College Swimmer of the Week by collegeswimming.com.
Williams' resume last weekend included a first-place finish in the 200-meter butterfly, a seventh place finish in the 100-meter fly, a ninth place finish in the 400-meter individual medley. He was also a part of the 800-meter relay team that finished eighth at the Bell Grand Prix
Penn State coach Bill Dorenkott talked about his teams' recent success, and how he plans to have it build off of it:
"We are really starting to step it up now," he said. "The athletes know that after last weekend's results, they can achieve some great things, and we are going to strive to do just that."
Those weekend results included multiple first-place finishes, and several more top-five ones, too. Junior Kyle Miranda finished third in the 200-meter breaststroke, while sophomore Pat Schirk took third in the 200-meter backstroke.
The women saw success as well, with senior Claire Hawley finishing fourth in the 1500-meter freestyle. Senior Nikki Collins took third in the 1650-yard freestyle.
Dorenkott knows that his swimmers are getting better each week and is very pleased with his teams' effort.
"We are almost there," he said. "Each week we get closer and closer to our goal, and hopefully we can continue towards that goal against West Chester."
This event is only the second home event for the Lions this season, and it's the only matchup that Penn State will take part in during December.
"After this weekend, we won't be competing in another event until the beginning of January," Dorenkott said. "It is very important for us to go out this weekend and get a win. It would be great to have that success to build off of for an entire month."
