Jan. 17, 2002
Evanston, Ill. - Five seniors will compete for the last time in their collegiate careers at the Norris Aquatics Center this Saturday, as the No. 16 Northwestern women's swimming and diving team hosts No. 18 Penn State in its final home meet of the 2001-02 season. The first race will begin at 1 p.m.
NU will pay tribute to seniors Merritt Adams (Norcross, Ga./The Lovett School), Lauren Moore (Wilton, Conn/Wilton), Adrian Talcott (St. Helena, Calif./Justin-Siena), Ashley Wagner (Taylor Mill, Ky./Notre Dame Academy), Whitney Winters (Abington, Pa./Abington) and Kaisa Greenberg (Princeton Junction, N.J./West Windsor-Plainsboro) for their commitment to NU and its swim program during the past four years.
Sophomore Vicky West (Redlands, Calif./Redlands) was named collegeswimming.com National Swimmer of the Week for her performance at last week's double-dual meet against No. 3 Auburn and Tennessee. West won the 1,650 freestyle for the second time this year with a season-best time of 16:49.30. Her NCAA provisional time was 16 seconds faster than the second-place finisher. West also finished second in the 500 freestyle (4:55.18).
Penn State is 0-2 in dual competition this year. The Nittany Lions last competed against No. 8 Florida, losing 128-111. PSU's strongest stroke has been the breaststroke, with four Nittany Lions appearing on the Tapershave top times list. Sophomore Kristen Woodring has the 17th-fastest time in the nation in the 100 breast and the 22nd-fastest time in the 200 breast.
Last year, PSU placed second at the Big Ten Championships, just 10 points behind conference champion Michigan. NU and PSU have not swam against each other in a dual format since the 1998-99 season. That year, the 'Cats defeated the Nittany Lions, 167-133.