Colin Quirk Class: Junior Hometown: Pittsburgh, Pa. High School: Mount Lebanon Position: Free Experience: JR

2007-08: Colin excelled as a distance swimmer in his sophomore campaign taking his first medalist finishes in the 1650 freesstyle at the quad meet with Pitt/Md./Mizzou/Nova and in the 1000 freestyle against Indian River C.C. He swam his career best in the 500 free at the Big Ten Championships and shaved nine seconds off his 1650 freestyle time in the same quad meet where he took first place. He also improved his 400 IM time at the Big Ten Championships.
Meet-by-Meet Highlights: Placed second in the 500 freestyle against Indian River C.C...First place in the 1000 freestyle against Indian River C.C...First place in the 1650 freestyle against Pitt/Md./Mizzou/Nova.

2006-07: Colin swam in only four different events as a freshman, the 500, 1000 and 1650 freestyle and the 400 IM. He swam in the 500 and 1650 free at Big Ten's as well as the 400 IM, with a 31st place finish in the 1650 free his best finish. He swam sparingly at the beginning of the year but began to swim more toward the end. When he did swim, he did decent, as in only 15 total swims on the year, he had one first place, one second place and three third place finishes. He had the fifth best time in the 1650 free on the team last year.
Meet-by-Meet Highlights: Finished third in the 1000 free at the dual meet at West Virginia....Won the 1000 free and placed second in the 500 free in the dual meet vs. West Chester....Placed third in the 1000 free in the dual meet vs. Rutgers....Finished fifth in the 1650 free in his first swim of the year in that event and finished 13th in the 400 IM and 15th in the 500 free at the Shamrock Invitational....Placed 31st in the 1650 free at Big Ten Championships.

High School: Colin was a four-year letterwinner at Mount Lebanon High School. The team went 11-1 in dual meets in both his sophomore and junior seasons and 8-2 as a senior when he was a team captain. He was the champion in the 500 freestyle at the WPIAL meet and finished 10th in the same event at the state meet. As a junior he placed ninth at states in the 500 free. As a junior, he helped lead his team to the WPIAL championship. He was also a member of the honor roll.

Personal: Colin was born on March 30, 1988 in Cherry Hill, N.J. The son of Patrick and Mary Quirk, Colin has four siblings, and older brother Dan, a younger brother Patrick, and two younger sisters, Megan and Bridget. His father ran track and cross country at West Chester while his mother was also a track/cross country athlete at Kutztown. His brother Dan is currently a swimmer at St. Bonaventure. Colin is currently enrolled in the division of undergraduate studies and would like to become a high school teacher. He lists listening to music and hanging out with friends as hobbies.

Why I Chose Penn State: "I chose Penn State because of the great academic and athletic reputation."