SMU Swimming And Diving Readies For Penn State
Oct 31 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Oct. 31, 2008
DALLAS (SMU)-SMU's swimming and diving programs (1-0, 1-0) will take on the Penn State Nittany Lions this Saturday in head to head competition in Joe Perkins Natatorium at 2 p.m. Penn States women's program comes to Dallas ranked 19th, while the SMU women remain 12th and the men 19th.
Weighing In on the Women
The Nittany Lions have performed well (somewhat of an understatement) in head to head competition for the last two years, having not dropped a meet since the 2005-06 season. Already this season, Penn State has notched two more wins on their impressive streak, taking down West Virginia and Richmond. SMU returns to head to head competition since defeating Arizona State on Oct. 23.
Senior Mustang Candace Blackman will be key in defeating Penn State, as she garnered C-USA swimmer of the week honors for her performances this past weekend in the SMU Classic. Blackman's strengths in the free events will help her shut down Penn State in the 50, 100, and 200 free races, as her respective times are under the top Nittany Lion time in each of those events this season.
When sophomore diver Audra Egenolf hits the springboard this Saturday, look for another exceptional presentation. Egenolf claimed NCAA qualifying marks in the one- and three-meter diving events in the win over ASU. Egenolf doesn't appear to be shying away from high marks anytime soon either, as she posted an improved three-meter mark in the SMU Classic.
Measuring Up the Men
Penn State's men's program is also coming off a win over the West Virginia Mountaineers, 145-84. Like the Mustangs, the Nittany Lions have only performed in one head to head competition in the 2008-09 season, with the Mustangs defeating Centenary College this past Saturday, 119-78.
In the 50 free, fans can expect to see a thrilling race with Penn States' Vincent Reydams currently clocking a time of 21.47, which is less than one-tenth of a second ahead of SMU's junior Mustang Thomas Fadnes, who posted 21.54 against Centenary.
Junior Pontus Renholm will have strong competition in the 200 back, in which he placed first against Centenary, when he faces up against Penn State's Daniel Fimbianti. Renholm touched in at 1:49.42, while Fimbianti posted a 1:50.54 against West Virginia.
Relaying the Facts
For the men, the Mustangs boast an impressive 200 medley relay time of 1:34.83, which they secured against the Gents of Centenary. This is nearly an 11 point eclipse of the top Nittany Lion time posted against West Virginia. Penn state gets the edge in the 200 free relay, where the Nittany Lions clocked a time of 1:26.06 to SMU's top time of 1:28.17.
On the women's side, the 400 medley relay will be a tight race. Against Richmond, the Nittany Lions swam a 3:50.93, while the Mustangs clocked in at 3:49.51. The Mustangs will have the advantage in the 400 free relay, with their best time being 3:24.14.
