Rutgers swimming and diving continues its competitive dual schedule this weekend, when the Scarlet Knights compete against Penn State and Yale on Friday and Saturday at McCoy Natatorium in University Park, Pennsylvania. Friday’s portion of the tri-meet begins at 5 p.m. ET and Saturday’s session starts at 11 a.m.
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LAST TIME OUT
RU closed out 2016 with its appearance at the Bruno Invitational Dec. 2-4 in Providence, Rhode Island. Rutgers collected 14 NCAA B qualifying standards during the three-day invite.
Senior Rachel Stoddard contributed five NCAA B cuts and three first-place individual finishes at the Bruno Invite, with her time of 2:13.67 in the 200 breaststroke prelims breaking a Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center pool record. The Hillsborough, New Jersey, native also helped Rutgers secure a victory in the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:39.90.
At the event, sophomore Vera Koprivova added three wins and three NCAA B cuts, and sophomore Francesca Stoppa produced three NCAA B cuts and two first‐place results. Junior Larissa Neilan had three NCAA B cuts and rookie Alexandra Fabugais‐Inaba contributed one individual win for RU.
Off the boards, senior Alyssa Black won both 1‐meter and 3‐meter diving events, both Zone qualifying marks.
Black’s score of 326.55 in the 3‐meter dive was a facility record. JuniorAddison Walkowiak finished second with Zone qualifying scores in both 1‐meter and 3‐meter dives, and sophomore Rachel Byrne also contributed Zone qualifying scores in both events.
SCOUTING PENN STATE
The Nittany Lions are tabbed No. 39 in the latest CollegeSwimming Poll. In its last time out, Penn State competed at the Ohio State Fall Invitational Nov. 18-20 with fellow Big Ten Conference foes OSU and Iowa.
Notable performances in the pool at the invite for PSU included Casey Francis’ NCAA B standard in the mile at 16:28.16, Niki Price’s time of 1:57.40 in the 200 backstroke and Emily Harris’ NCAA B performance of 2:01.52 in the 200 breaststroke.
The Nittany Lions are led by fourth-year head coach Tim Murphy.
SCOUTING YALE
The Bulldogs enter the tri-meet ranked No. 30 in the latestCollegeSwimming Poll and own a 10-0 record in dual action. Yale defeated a pair of Ivy League opponents last weekend, downing Penn, 221-79, and Dartmouth, 252-48.
During the meet, the Bulldogs swept the 1-2-3 positions in both backstroke events. Isabella Hindley captured the 100 backstroke with a time of 55.69, and Destiny Nelson secured the 200 backstroke with a mark of 2:01.14.
Off the boards, Talbott Paulsen produced a 316.95 to win the 3-meter dive as Yale claimed the top-three spots in the event. In the 1-meter dive, Lilybet MacRae contributed a first-place result of 296.35.
Head coach Jim Henry enters his fourth season at the helm of the Bulldogs.
PREVIOUS MEETING
Rutgers met both programs last season in New Haven, Connecticut, as the Scarlet Knights fell to both Penn State (242-111) and Yale (231-122) at the Robert J.H. Kiphuth Exhibition Pool Jan. 15-16, 2016.
In her collegiate debut, Stoppa scored a first-place time of 55.92 in the 100 butterfly and also finished second in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:01.21. Walkowiak added a first-place score of 294.95 in the 1-meter dive and a second-place result of 308.70 in the 3-meter dive.
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News courtesy of Rutgers Athletics.
