Oct. 23, 2007

Penguins Impressive in Opening Meets at Bowling Green, Clarion

    Youngstown -- Youngstown State got off to a strong start to the 2007-08 swimming and diving season with impressive efforts at the Tom Stubbs Relays and Clarion Diving Invitational over the weekend.
    At the Relays, the Penguins posted five third-place finishes after earning two fourth-place finishes at the same meet last year.
    The 200 medley relay of Ashley Williamson, Jennifer Johnstone, Brittany Senn and Megan Rupe posted a time of 1:53.18, which is already faster than the time YSU recorded at the Horizon League Championships a year ago.   
    Williamson also led off the 300-yard backstroke relay with a 100-yard split of 1:00.91, which ranks her third in school history and 0.57 seconds behind the school record. That time is also more than three seconds faster than YSU's top mark in the backstroke last year.
    Junior Olivia Arnold led off the 1,500 free relay with a 500-yard split of 5:17.66, which is a second-and-a-half faster than her best time last season.
    In addition to the 200 medley relay, the Penguins earned third-place finishes in the 300 back relay, the 200 free relay, the 1,500 free relay and the 400 free relay.
    At the Clarion Diving Invitational on Sunday, freshman Sara Weigel finished fifth in the 1-meter and seventh in the 3-meter to lead the Penguins. Her score of 215.20 in the 1-meter ranked behind three of the top eight divers at last year’s Division II National Championships, and she finished with a score of 185.80 in the 3-meter. Freshman Amanda Carpin placed ninth in the 3-meter and 10th in the 1-meter.
    The Penguins will open up the dual meet portion of their schedule on Friday with a double-dual at home against Marshall and Green Bay. The meet will start at 5 p.m. inside the Beeghly Natatorium.