Dec. 4, 2009
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Penn State men's swimming squad ran into stiff competition on the first day of competition at the Ohio State Invitational on Friday, ending the day in fifth place. Brian Alden (Lansdale, Pa.) sported the best day finishing fifth in the 50 free and leading the 200 free relay to fourth.
Alden qualified fifth out of the preliminaries of the 50 freestyle with a season-best time of 20.42. Unfortunately in the final, Alden didn't improve his time, but held the fifth place spot to receive the highest individual points of the afternoon of any Nittany Lion with 14.
Alden had some support in the finals of the 50 free as Basil Kaaki (Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia) was second in the B Final of the event, finishing 10th overall with a time of 20.61, earning seven points. Freshman Jamie Grennan (Milford, Pa.) reached the C Final, garnering a 22nd place showing with a time of 22.33 after swimming 21.12 in the prelims.
The trio of 50 free swimmers teamed up to post the best performance of the night for the Nittany Lions, finishing fourth in the 200 freestyle relay. The team finished in a time of 1:21.77, good for 30 points. John Austin (Kennett Square, Pa.) anchored the squad with a 20.86 split, while Kaaki posted the best split with a time of 19.88.
Kaaki and Alden again teamed up on a relay to cap the evening in the 400 medley, joined by Dan Fimbianti (Mahwah, N.J.) and Mitch Scherer (Pottstown, Pa.). The squad swam to a seventh-place finish in a time of 3:18.61.
Scott Marino (Scotch Plains, N.J.) and Jon Cochrane (Boalsburg, Pa.) both reached the finals of their respective events as Marino (1:54.08) swam to 19th in the 200 IM C Final and Cochrane (4:33.57) finished 14th in the 500 free B Final.
The team as a whole concluded the day's competition in fifth place of six teams, scoring a total of 108 points. Penn State sits just 19 points off third-place West Virginia, while hosts Ohio State leads the invitational with a score of 447.
Day 1 Finals
50 Freestyle (A Final)
5. Brian Alden 20.65
50 Freestyle (B Final)
10. Basil Kaaki 20.61
50 Freestyle (C Final)
22. Jamie Grennan 21.33
200 IM (C Final)
19. Scott Marino 1:54.08
500 Freestyle (B Final)
14. Jon Cochrane 4:33.57
200 Freestyle Relay
4. Alden, Kaaki, Grennan, Austin 1:21.77
12. Walker, Risley, Daniele, Kaiserian 1:24.69
14. Cochrane, Marino, Fimbianti, Ryan 1:25.58
400 Medley Relay
7. Fimbianti, Scherer, Kaaki, Alden 3:18.61
14. Gomez, Marino, Risley, Cochrane 3:26.24
Bushman, Sanderson, Daniele, Walker DQ
Day 1 Preliminaries
50 Freestyle
5. Brian Alden 20.42 q
10. Basil Kaaki 20.59 q
22. Jamie Grennan 21.12 q
27. Ted Walker 21.30
33. John Austin 21.42
41. Greg Daniele 21.64
45. Mike Kaiserian 21.74
200 IM
27. Scott Marino 1:54.08 q
35. Luke Bushman 1:55.76
36. Dan Fimbianti 1:55.77
38. Matt Cox 1:56.23
40. Mitch Scherer 1:56.34
44. Wade Satanik 1:56.99
47. Graham Risley 1:57.35
54. Ben Hengels 1:58.79
57. Brent Sanderson 2:00.92
500 Freestyle
11. Jon Cochrane 4:32.06 q
28. Josh Wakeley 4:37.99
30. Jack Zierenberg 4:39.11
40. James Capparell 4:41.09
41. Ben Ryan 4:41.62
46. Max Ettore 4:44.09
50. Jeff Gomez 4:46.71
Team Standings
1. Ohio State 414
2. Minnesota 227
3. West Virginia 127
4. Notre Dame 119
5. Penn State 108
6. Pittsburgh 50
--NITTANY LIONS--