Haupt, Preyss will both compete in two events, 400-medley relay team hoping to improve on last year's fourth-place finish

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (Mar. 17, 2005) - Penn State will send seven different individuals, in three events, into tonight's Day 1 finals at the NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships at Boilermaker Aquatic Center.

Tonight's finals will get started at 7 p.m., and live results can be followed at www.GoPSUsports.com.

The Nittany Lion 400-yard medley relay team of junior Sarah Haupt (Carlisle, Pa.), junior Amberle Biedermann (Colorado Springs, Colo.), senior Kristen Woodring (Sinking Spring, Pa.) and freshman Lauren Preyss (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) will swim in lane 1 after qualifying for the championship finals with a time of 3 minutes, 38.99 seconds. Penn State's 400 medley relay team finished fourth at last year's NCAA Championships.

Haupt and Preyss will also compete in the consolation finals of the 200 freestyle relay, which finished 14th in 1:32.47. Senior Deirdre Dlugonski (Washington, Pa.) and senior Lauren Semchyshen (New Fairfield, Conn.) will also swam in this morning's 200 freestyle relay race.

"The 200 freestyle relay team will be coming back in 14th place tonight," said Penn State head coach Bill Dorenkott. "We thought that relay team could score in the consolation finals, and they will be. We'd like them to move up tonight, and I think we have some room to improve in that particular relay."

Sophomore Erin Morris (Ft. Wayne, Ind.) is Penn State's other qualifier for tonight's finals after finishing 12th in this morning's 500 freestyle preliminaries with her second-fastest time of the year in 4:44.60. The Nittany Lions had five other swimmers in the 500 freestyle. Sophomore Margy Keefe (Cincinnati, Ohio) finished 26th with her fastest time of the year (4:47.90), sophomore Nikki Collins (Carmel, Ind.) finished 40th (4:51.46), sophomore Claire Hawley (Barnstable, Mass.) took 50th (4:53.68), senior Meredith Holman (Inman, S.C.) was 53rd (4:55.18) and sophomore Megan Palera (Santa Maria, Calif.) finished 54th (4:55.39).

In the 200 IM, senior Courtney Stanchock (Bloomsburg, Pa.) took 35th in the preliminaries in 2:02.35. Dlugonski took 33rd in the 50 freestyle (23.08) followed by Preyss in 51st (23.47) and Semchyshen in 63rd (23.80).

"In the 200 IM, Courtney was close to her best time," Dorenkott said. "It was a very nice swim, and that is going to set her up very well for tomorrow in the 100 breaststroke."

Senior Alison Riccobono (Ypsilanti, Mich.) finished 34th in 1-meter diving with a score of 213.20. She will compete in Friday's 3-meter diving competition. She won the Zone A 3-meter diving title last weekend.

Penn State's best-ever finish in the 200 freestyle relay at the NCAA Championships was a 10th-place showing in both 2002 and 1983. Katie Anderson had the school's best-ever finish in the 500 freestyle when she took 11th in 2001.

For more information on Penn State men's and women's swimming and diving, please visit Penn State's official athletic website at www.GoPSUsports.com.

Thursday's Preliminary Results

200-yard Freestyle Relay: 1. Georgia, 1:28.36 (NCAA, American, US Open and Pool Record); 2. Auburn, 1:29.70; 3. Arizona, 1:29.80; 14. Penn State (Lauren Preyss, Sarah Haupt, Deirdre Dlugonski, Lauren Semchyshen) 1:32.47.

500-yard Freestyle: 1. Carly Piper, Wisconsin, 4:39.71 (Pool Record); 2. Caroline Burckle, Florida, 4:40.50; 3. Emily Mason, Arizona, 4:40.53; 12. Erin Morris, Penn State, 4:44.60; 26. Margy Keefe, Penn State, 4:47.90; 40. Nikki Collins, Penn State, 4:51.46; 50. Claire Hawley, Penn State, 4:53.68; 53. Meredith Holman, Penn State, 4:55.18; 54. Megan Palera, Penn State, 4:55.39.

200-yard IM: 1. Kirsty Coventry, Auburn, 1:56.67; 2. Emily Kukors, Auburn, 1:57.36; 3. Whitney Myers, Arizona, 1:57.87; 35. Courtney Stanchock, Penn State, 2:02.35.

50-yard Freestyle: 1. Kara Lynn Joyce, Georgia, 21.94 (Pool Record); 2. Jana Kolukanova, Auburn, 22.25; 3. Paige Kearns, Georgia, 22.32; 33. Deirdre Dlugonski, Penn State, 23.08; 51. Lauren Preyss, Penn State, 23.47; 63. Lauren Semchyshen, Penn State, 23.80.

400-yard Medley Relay: 1. Florida, 3:34.87 (Pool Record); 2. Georgia, 3:36.41; 3. Stanford, 3:36.65; 7. Penn State (Sarah Haupt, Amberle Biedermann, Kristen Woodring, Lauren Preyss) 3:38.99.

1-meter Diving: 1. Blythe Hartley, Southern Cal, 310.35; 2. Qiong Jie Huang, Hawaii, 309.50; 3. Nancilea Underwood, Iowa, 302.10; 34. Alison Riccobono, Penn State, 213.20.