Nov. 16, 2001

Friday Finals Results
Download Free Acrobat Reader

PITTSBURGH-The Pittsburgh women's swimming and diving team got some key performances at key times to stay within striking distance of first-place Missouri after the first day of the Pittsburgh Invitational.

The Panthers won three of the six final events on Friday evening at Trees Pool and trail the Tigers by 161.5 points with two days of competition remaining.

Sophomore Jen O'Brien (Verona, Pa./Penn Hills) came back after placing third in the preliminaries to win the 1-meter diving competition with a score of 272.8 points. Melanie Rinaldi of Miami finished in second place while senior Moreen O'Brien (Springfield, Ill./Springfield) had 260.35 points to place third.

The 200 yard freestyle relay was won by Missouri's 'A' team of Andrea Nigh, Tara Brooks, Lindsay Palbykin and Ellen Cross in a time of 1:34.97, earning 40 points for the Tigers. Pittsburgh's 'A' team took second place, just 0.79 seconds behind. Jenny Livingstone (Endwell, N.Y./Union-Endicott), Lindsay Weaverling (Lansing, Kan./Leavenworth), Ryan Redman (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) and Carolyne Savini (Egg Harbour Twp., N.J./Holy Spirit) edged out Miami's 'A' team by 0.23 seconds.

The only Panther to make the finals of the 500 freestyle was junior Emily Colley (Pace, Fla./Pace) and she represented the Panthers well by winning the event with a season-best time of 4:55.18. She won the 500 free by two seconds over Missouri's Lizza Igoe, who was seeded first after the prelims.

Savini won yet another event when she won the 200 individual medley final by 2.09 seconds over Miami's Kristy MacLennan. Missouri had the third through eighth place finishers in the finals of the 200 IM as well as three finishers in the consolation final to extend its lead over the Panthers, Buckeyes and Hurricanes.

Nigh extended the Tigers' lead even further with a victory in the 50 freestyle, in a time of 23.81 seconds. She was almost a quarter of a second faster than Miami's Christine Williams and in third place was Livingstone, who swam the 50 free in 24.12 seconds.

In the final women's event of the evening, the 400 yard medley relay was a heated affair, but the Tigers' team of Sarah Lo, Mariona Costa, Becca Dawson and Nigh beat out Pittsburgh's team of Savini, Redman, Kelli Tielking (Damascus, Md./Damascus) and Livingstone by 0.83 seconds. The Tigers also took third and sixth place in the 400 medley relay.

Overall, Missouri has 462 points, Pittsburgh has 300.5, Miami is in third with 235 points and Ohio State has 165.5 after one day of competition. The second day begins at 10 a.m. with preliminaries at Trees Pool.