Bloomington, Ind. -- The Penn State 200-yard medley relay team broke its own Big Ten Championship, and conference record, and freshman Lauren Preyss (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) set a school record in the 200 freestyle as the Nittany Lions sit one point out of first place after the first day of the Big Ten Women's Swimming and Diving Championships.
No. 14 Penn State has 72 points, one point behind defending champion Michigan. Wisconsin is third with 67, Indiana is fourth with 58 and Purdue is fifth with 56.
"We got off to a good start," said Penn State head coach Bill Dorenkott. "It was the most points we've ever scored on Day 1 of the Big Ten Championships. I'm pleased in terms of each session counting, and we need to maximize our opportunities, and I feel we did that today."
The championships will continue with prelimaries at 11 a.m. Thursday. The finals session will begin at 7 p.m. A link to live results is available at www.GoPSUsports.com.
Junior Sarah Haupt (Carlisle, Pa.), senior Kristen Woodring (Sinking Spring, Pa.), junior Amberle Biedermann (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and senior Deirdre Dlugonski (Washington, Pa.) broke their own Big Ten Championship record in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:39.06, beating their time from last year's championships (1:39.22). The time of 1:39.06, which is an NCAA qualifying time, also set a pool record at Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center, and it was just .04 seconds off school-record pace.
"I was surprised, I was impressed and I was also very proud of those four ladies," Dorenkott said. "Probably the greatest compliment you can pay that group is that they are very mature and experienced, and they came ready to go."
Preyss led off the first leg of the 800 freestyle relay team, which finished third in 7:16.23, and she was followed by sophomore Erin Morris (Ft. Wayne, Ind.), sophomore Nikki Collins (Carmel, Ind.) and freshman Molly Crispell (Boalsburg, Pa.). Preyss swam her leg in a school-record time of 1:47.33, breaking Fran McDermid's 13-year-old record of 1:47.61.
"I'm pleased with that 800 freestyle relay time," Dorenkott added. "We came into the meet with the goal of improving our freestyle relays, and hopefully this will set the tone."
With the win in the 200 medley relay, Woodring and Biedermann became eight-time Big Ten Champions, while Haupt and Dlugonski won their seventh titles.
Preyss broke McDermid's 200 freestyle record, which was set in 1992. McDermid was a former Penn State All-American and a U.S. National Team member.