Feb. 27, 2009
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The men's swimming and diving team improved from eighth to seventh place in Friday's final at the Big Ten Championships. The Nittany Lions now have 157 points and is only 16.5 points behind Wisconsin.
Penn State started off the finals with the 200 medley relay team of Patrick Schirk, Mitch Scherer, Tim Williams and Vincent Reydams placed fourth with a time of 1:26.59, breaking a nine year old school record in the process.
Matt Cox scored points in the consolation final with a seventh place finish, 15th overall, in the 400 IM with a time of 3:55.48. Marino finished first in the C Final with a personal best and NCAA "B" time of 3:51.03 moving from ninth to second in the Penn State record book.
Williams added points to the Nittany Lion collection in the 100 butterfly placing sixth in the consolation final, 14th overall, with a time of 47.97.
Ben Ryan claimed first in the 200 freestyle C Final, 17th overall, with a time of 1:37.45. Jon Cochrane wasn't far behind placing third setting a new personal best of 1:38.06.
Scherer went on to place eighth overall in the 100 breaststroke with an NCAA "B" time of 54.12 setting a new school record in the process. He outswam previous record holder Kyle Miranda by .13 seconds. Brian Alden also added points with a sixth place finish, 14th overall, in the consolation finals clocking in at 55.07
Schirk took third place in the 100 backstroke touching the wall in 47.68. Dan Fimbianti claimed second place in the C Final with a time of 49.39.
The Nittany Lions closed out Friday's finals as the 800 freestyle relay team of Ryan, Basil Kaaki, Cochrane and Alden placed sixth in 6:30.12.
In the diving well, Josh Bonner placed eighth in the consolation finals, 16th overall, in the three-meter springboard with a score of 277.05.
Penn State will return to the pool for the final day of the Big Ten Championships at noon tomorrow for the preliminaries in the 200 backstroke, the 100 freestyle, the 200 breaststroke, the 200 butterfly and the 1,650 freestyle. Fans can follow the action live by clicking .
Big Ten Men's Swimming and Diving - Standings After Day 2
1. Michigan - 588.5
2. Ohio State - 357.5
3. Minnesota - 344
4. Purdue - 330
5. Indiana - 285.5
6. Wisconsin - 173.5
7. Penn State - 157
8. Northwestern - 150
9. Iowa - 97
10. Michigan State - 79