Jan. 29, 2010
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Penn State men's swimming & diving team struggled on day one of a quad meet against Northwestern, Michigan and Ohio State at McCorkle Natatorium Friday night, trailing all three teams.
The night got off to a rough start when Penn State suffered a disqualification of its "A" team in the 400 Medley Relay. From there, just one Nittany Lion, Brian Alden (Lansdale, Pa.) placed in the top five of any event, finishing fourth in the 50 freestyle with a time of 20.68. Also in the 50 free, Ted Walker (eighth) and Jamie Grennan (ninth) both captured top ten spots in times of 21.09 and 21.24, respectively.
Penn State wrapped up the evening's events with a fourth-place showing in the 400 Freestyle Relay with a time of 3:02.00. The team consisted of Basil Kaaki (Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia), Graham Risley (Riverside, Ill.), Ted Walker (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Other top performances were turned in by Dan Fimbianti (Mahwah, N.J.) in the 200 backstroke, and Alex Marchinski (Shillington, Pa.) in the 1-meter dive. Fimbianti touched the wall in sixth place with a time of 1:48.91, his second-best time of 2009-10. Marchinski was sixth in his event, diving a personal-best 251.40.
Penn State is closest to Northwestern, trailing the Wildcats by just four points, 84-80, while Ohio State (137-30) and Michigan (132-34) have substantial leads on the Nittany Lions.
Day two of the quad meet will continue at McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion starting at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. Visit GoPSUsports.com for complete recap and results following the day's action.
--NITTANY LIONS--
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
50 Freestyle
4. Brian Alden 20.68
8. Ted Walker 21.09
9. Jamie Grennan 21.24
15. John Austin 21.66
Mike Kaiserian 21.69
200 Freestyle
10. Basil Kaaki 1:40.90
11. Ben Ryan 1:41.56
12. Jon Cochrane 1:42.09
Ben Hengels 1:45.65
200 Backstroke
6. Dan Fimbianti 1:48.91
12. Jon Cochrane 1:53.40
13. Luke Bushman 1:53.41
Graham Risley 1:51.57
200 Butterfly
10. Luke Bushman 1:52.22
14. Matt Cox 1:55.40
15. Ben Ryan 1:56.99
16. Jack Zierenberg 1:58.39
Greg Daniele 1:58.27
200 Breaststroke
11. Mitch Scherer 2:06.45
12. Scott Marino 2:08.72
14. James Capparell 2:10.02
16. Brent Sanderson 2:13.10
1,000 Freestyle
10. Colin Quirk 9:29.53
12. Jack Zierenberg 9:33.40
13. Max Ettore 9:40.84
14. Josh Wakeley 9:48.18
400 Freestyle Relay
4. Kaaki, Alden, Risley, Walker 3:02.00
7. Ryan, Marino, Cochrane, Austin 3:05.70
Fimbianti, Kaiserian, Capparell, Grennan 3:11.86
400 Medley Relay
8. Risley, Sanderson, Bushman, Walker 3:27.15
9. Gomez, Marino, Daniele, Austin 3:29.09
Fimbianti, Scherer, Kaaki, Alden DQ
1-Meter Diving
6. Alex Marchinski 251.40
7. Nick McLain 201.60
Team Scores
Northwestern 84, Penn State 80
Ohio State 137, Penn State 30
Michigan 132, Penn State 34
--NITTANY LIONS--