Women take first and set records at Total Performance Invite

For the fourth year in a row, the Penn women’s swimming team took the victory at the Kenyon College Total Performance Invitational.

This past Thursday through Saturday, the Quakers dominated a field of Kenyon, Carnegie Mellon, Davidson, Findlay and Grove City.

The Red and Blue kicked off the competition by building an 85-point lead over second-place Kenyon on Thursday night.

Junior Shelby Fortin dominated the meet, starting with 800 freestyle relay. She led off the ‘A’ team of freshmen Dayae Choi, Annie McCotter and Sydney Stinner for a first-place finish at 7:25.05.

Fortin had a strong night, smashing the previous pool record by nearly 12 seconds and beating her own school mark set at last year’s Ivy League Championships in the 1,650-yard freestyle at 16:32.87. Finishing just behind her were four other Quakers taking second through fifth: junior Kristi Edleson, a Daily Pennsylvanian staff writer, Stinner, McCotter and freshman Megan Alexander.

Penn virtually sealed the deal on Saturday, extending its lead over second-place Kenyon by almost 300 points.

In the 200 free relay, the ‘A’ team of Fortin, Choi, sophomore Christina Hurley and freshman Emily Baturka took first while the ‘B’ team got points for Penn with third.

Fortin notched two more wins in the 50 and 200 free relays, setting another record in the latter with a 1:48.43 by over three seconds.

Church also set a school record in the 100 backstroke with a 55.14, breaking Sara Coenen’s four-year old 55.21 record.

Later in the night, Penn ruled the 400 individual medley with Alexander, senior Melissa Parratto and junior Katherine Ashenfelter taking 1-2-3 clocking in times of 4:27.67, 4:27.78 and 4:29.23, respectively.

It came as no surprise on Saturday night when the Red and Blue finished with a score of 1,565, pulling far ahead of Kenyon.

The ‘A’ team of Church, junior Anne Maercklein, sophomore Taylor Sneed and Baturka kicked off the night with a victory in the 200 medley relay.

Fortin dominated the day yet again, setting another school record in the 200 backstroke and another in the 100 free. She finished off the night leading the ‘A’ team of Baturka, freshman Emma Siewert and Hurley to a school record of 3:24.61 and a victory by over four seconds in the 400 freestyle relay.

For the final individual event, Ashenfelter and Alexander took first and second in the 200 I.M.

The women resume Ivy meets again Friday against Columbia at Sheerr Pool.

SEE ALSO

Penn swimming splits weekend meets

Penn swimming too much to handle for UConn

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