2005-06:
Jessica had a very successful junior campaign, which culminated in her qualifying for the NCAA Championships for the first time in her career. At the NCAA's, she competed in the 500 freestyle, 200 freestyle, 200 backstroke, and swam the anchor leg on the 800 freestyle relay team that finished 16th, earning her honorable mention All-American status. She swam on the 800 freestyle relay team that finished second at the Big Ten Championships with an NCAA "A" qualifying time of 7:11.59, which beat the previous pool record at Ohio State. She was one of five swimmers that earned second team All-Big Ten honors after also finishing eighth in the 200 backstroke and 11th in the 500 free at Big Ten's. Over the course of the season, she set personal best times in the 50 free, 100 free, 200 free, 500 free, 100 back and 200 back. Her best times in the 200 and 500 free as well as the 200 back came in the Big Ten Championships. She was also an Academic All-Big Ten selection.

Other highlights: Placed fourth in the 200 backstroke and took second in the 200 free in the tri-meet with Ohio State and Indiana....Finished third in the 50 free, and was on the 200 medley relay team that finished second in the dual meet vs. Kenyon....Finished third in the 200 free and was on the first place 400 free relay team in the dual meet vs. Rutgers....Won the 100 backstroke vs. St. Bonaventure....Fourth in both the 200 backstroke and the 200 free vs. Florida....Picked up points for Penn State in the 500 free, 200 free, 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke (7th place), on the 800 free relay team (5th place), and on the 400 free relay team (8th place) at the Ohio State Invitational, helping the Nittany Lions to a second place finish....Finished second in the 200 free and was on the 400 free relay team that finished first vs. West Chester....On the first place 400 free relay team in a quad-meet at Arizona State....Picked up points for the Nittany Lions in the 400 medley relay (2nd place) and 200 free (3rd place) vs. West Virginia.

2004-05:
Barnes placed 16th in the standings for the 1650 freestyle (17:05.09) at the 2005 Big Ten Championships. She came in second in the 1000 freestyle (10:18.85) against West Virginia University. Her personal best in the 1000 freestyle (10:13.85) was against West Chester.

2003-04:
Barnes finished eighth in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:04.91 at her first collegiate competition versus Auburn and Virginia. Took third in the 200 backstroke (2:05.39) versus Washington. Finished second in the 1000-yard freestyle (10:07.36) versus West Chester. Took fourth place in the 200-SC backstroke (2:16.14) at the Georgia Fall Invitational. Finished second in the 200-yard backstroke (2:04.13) at North Carolina.

High School:
Barnes capped off a stellar high school career with two top-10 finishes at the 2003 Pennsylvania State Championships held at Penn State. She placed fourth in the 500-yard freestyle (5:03.21) and ninth in the 100 backstroke (59.21). In 2002, she was the YMCA Long-Course National Champion in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:21.20, held at the University of Maryland. She also finished second in the 200 backstroke (2:02.95) at the YMCA Nationals in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in 2002. She had a fifth-place finish in the 100 backstroke (59.02) in 2000 at the Pennsylvania State Championships. Jessica graduated from Bishop Shanahan High School with first honor and received the AP Science Award. She ranked 20th in a class of 303 students.

Personal:
Jessica Barnes was born on February 23, 1985. Her parents are James and Caren Barnes. Jessica has two brothers, Steven and Adam, and one sister, Cathleen. Jessica is majoring in early childhood education.

Why I chose Penn State:
"I chose Penn State because of the family atmosphere, the girls on the swim team and the coaches."