Oct. 31, 2009
BLACKSBURG, Va.--The Penn State men's swimming & diving was downed by Virginia Tech, 184-116, on Saturday afternoon at War Memorial Pool. Brian Alden (Lansdale, Pa.) and Basil Kaaki (Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia) each snatched one individual victory, while combining on the 400 freestyle relay for another.
Kaaki went out in the 100 butterfly and narrowly defeated Greg Mahon of VT by .35 to win the event. Kaaki, Alden, Graham Risley (Riverside, Ill.) and Jon Cochrane (Boalsburg, Pa.) went on to win the 400 freestyle relay in a time of 3:04.85, beating Virginia Tech's "A" squad by .19.
Alden, who was narrowly beaten in the 200 freestyle, went on to capture the 100 free in a time of 46.09. Stephen Hawkins of VT was .65 behind Alden. Previously, Alden missed out on a double in the 200 free as Bryan Uncur beat the sophomore out of Lansdale, Pa. with a time of 1:40.43. Alden finished in 1:40.59 in one of the closest finishes of the day.
Penn State had an outstanding performance from freshman Ted Walker (Philadelphia, Pa.), who won his first collegiate event, the 50 freestyle in a time of 20.82.
Other victors on Saturday afternoon were Dan Fimbianti (Mahwah, N.J.), Mitch Scherer (Pottstown, Pa.), and Scott Marino (Scoth Plains, N.J.). Fimbianti took top honors in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:49.68. Scherer was victorious in the 200 breaststroke, completing the race in a time of 2:07.00. Marino trailed by just .63, but would get a win in the 200 IM posting a time of 1:54.20, a whole 2.65 head of Dan Flynn of Virginia Tech.
The Nittany Lions return to the pool in three weeks for a two-day home meet against Virginia. The contest will kick off on Nov. 21 and conclude on Nov. 22 at McCoy Natatorium.
--NITTANY LIONS--