Women Fall to Penn State in Dual-Meet

Friday, October 15

6:00 p.m.

West Virginia University

107

181

Penn State

Results

Photo by: Seth Seebaugh

October 15, 2021 08:11 PM | Women's Swimming & Diving

WVU v PSU Women Results

By: Reghan Bailey

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University women's swimming and diving team came up short as they continued the 2021-22 campaign with a dual-meet against Penn State on Friday at the Aquatic Center at Mylan Park.

The Nittany Lions topped the Mountaineers, 181-107, to kick off the dual weekend. WVU tallied four wins, including freshman Emily Knorr collecting her fourth individual win for the season, while junior Jacqueline McCutchan earned her sixth.

"I'm really proud of our ladies this evening, obviously it was a big challenge but I'm most impressed with how we stayed within our own system and raced in our own lanes," coach Vic Riggs said. "There was a lot of improvement from last WV State Games, which is what we were looking for. There are still areas we can improve on for our next meet."

"First runout of the season and we came out with a lot of positive emotions," diving coach Karla Helder said. "We got two NCAA Zones-qualifiers, and everyone walks away with some good perspective on where they stand for the season."

On springboard, freshman Sarah Krusinski secured her first collegiate victory and a NCAA Zones-qualifying score of 269.85 on 1-meter. Senior Camille Burt tallied a score of 250.05 on 3-meter finishing in fourth, followed by senior Emma Longley (241.65) and junior Marian Tiemeier (233.48).

Friday's meet opened with the 400 medley relay. The Mountaineer team comprised of fifth-year Ana Zortea, juniors Tatum Peyerl, Harna Minezawa and Jacqueline McCutchan took fourth place with a time of 3:58.59.

The first individual event of the afternoon was the 1000 free, where freshman Knorr finished first after touching the wall in 10:19.87. Knorr was followed by freshman Miranda Kirtley in fourth (10:31.79).

McCutchan earned a second-place finish in the 100 free, touching with a time of 52.16.

Minezawa captured her first victory of the evening, leading a 1-2-3-4 WVU finish in the 100 fly with a time of 58.42. Freshman Mia Walters followed in second (58.83), ahead of senior Lauren Beckish (59.24) and junior Abigail Riggs (1:00.07).

WVU's momentum continued as the Mountaineers swept the 200 IM, led by McCutchan in first touching in 2:09.35, the sixth victory of her junior campaign. Burton came in second with a 2:10.30, followed by sophomores Shelby Gerving (2:11.03) and Lauren Musbach (2:13.14).

The evening concluded with WVU's fourth victory of the afternoon in the 200 free relay. Minezawa, Zortea, junior Ginger Hansen and Reardon took first with a time of 1:36.89.

Friday's meet marked the first of the two-day competition between WVU and Penn State. The weekend concludes tomorrow afternoon as the men's teams take the pool at 11 a.m. ET.

For more information on the Mountaineers, visit WVUsports.com and follow WVUSwimDive on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.