Feb. 25, 2010
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Penn State men's swimming team sent seven athletes to the finals on the second day of the Big Ten Swimming & Diving Championships en route to ninth place after seven full events. The Nittany Lions were led by Brian Alden (Lansdale, Pa.) and Basil Kaaki (Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia) in the 50 free and Scott Marino (Scotch Plains, N.J.) in the 200 IM, who broke the school record twice in his premiere event.
Alden (19.83) and Kaaki (19.96) qualified for the 50 free "A" and "B" Finals, respectively, both reaching season best and NCAA "B" cut times in the process. Alden was third, Kaaki in ninth coming out of the preliminaries. Alden finished fifth in the finals with a time of 19.92, good for 14 points, and Kaaki won his final in a time of 19.85, the second fastest finals time in the event, good for ninth place and nine points.
Marino swam a consistent day in the 200 IM, twice breaking the Penn State school record in the event. He went 1:46.77 in the preliminaries, good for 10th place, before matching his place and besting his time with a mark of 1:46.60, good for seven points and an NCAA "B" cut time.
Two other individuals, Ben Ryan (State College, Pa.) and Jon Cochrane (Boalsburg, Pa.), reached the "C" final in the 500 freestyle with NCAA "B" times. Ryan swam to 18th in the final with a time of 4:24.72 after finishing 22nd in the prelims with a 4:26.17, while Cochrane swam to 20th in 4:26.45 after going 4:25.05 in the prelims, finishing 21st.
Unfortunately for Penn State, the 400 Medley Relay team was disqualified from its event, dropping the Lions from sixth to ninth on the final event of the evening. A 10th-place finish would've secured a minimum of 14 points and Penn State was seeded seventh. PSU has 90 points after two days of competition. Ohio State and Michigan are tied atop the standings with 274.5 points
Key
q = Qualified for finals
B = NCAA "B" Standard
( ) = Points Scored
* -- School Record
50 Freestyle "A" Finals
5. Brian Alden 19.92 (14) B
50 Freestyle "B" Finals
9. Basil Kaaki 19.85 (9) B
200 IM "B" Finals
10. Scott Marino 1:46.60* (7) B
200 IM "C" Finals
23. Dan Fimbianti 1:52.65
24. Matt Cox 1:52.68
500 Freestyle "C" Finals
18. Ben Ryan 4:24.72 B
20. Jon Cochrane 4:26.45 B
50 Freestyle Prelims
3. Brian Alden 19.83 qB
9. Basil Kaaki 19.96 qB
25. John Austin 20.62
27. Ted Walker 20.66
30. Jamie Grennan 20.74
36. Mike Kaiserian 20.89
41. Greg Daniele 20.97
200 IM Prelims
10. Scott Marino 1:46.77* qB
24. Graham Risley 1:49.59 q
30. Matt Cox 1:51.36
33. Dan Fimbianti 1:51.65
36. Mitch Scherer 1:52.24
39. Wade Satanik 1:52.45
43. Ben Hengels 1:52.88
47. Brent Sanderson 1:53.75
500 Free Prelims
21. Jon Cochrane 4:25.05 qB
22. Ben Ryan 4:26.17 qB
36. Josh Wakeley 4:29.81
38. Colin Quirk 4:30.30
39. Max Ettore 4:30.36
44. Luke Bushman 4:31.10
45. Jack Zierenberg 4:31.26
52. James Capparell 4:33.23
61. Jeff Gomez 4:42.84
--NITTANY LIONS--