Dec. 3, 2010
ATHENS, Ga. -- The Penn State men's swimming team saw some of its best performances in the young season as the Nittany Lions garnered fifth place in the first day of the three-day Georgia Invitational. Scott Marino (Scotch Plains, N.J.) impressed in the 200 IM with an NCAA "B" cut time after a first-place preliminary swim.
Marino swam a pair of NCAA "B" times (1:47.94 final) en route to a fourth-place showing in the 200 IM. Marino garnered the top qualifying time with a time of 1:47.78. Marino was followed by James Wilson (Nottingham, Pa.) in 13th (1:51.77) and Matt Salig (Downingtown, Pa.) in 16th (1:53.65) during the B Final.
The 200 freestyle relay swam to sixth place with a time of 1:21.99, the quickest time of the season. The relay consisted of Brian Alden (Lansdale, Pa.), Shane Austin (Kennett Square, Pa.), John Austin (Kennett Square, Pa.) and Sean Grier (Hummelstown, Pa.). The Nittany Lions were just .42 off of making an NCAA "B" cut.
Luke Bushman (Green Bay, Wis.) finished just shy of the A Final with a preliminary swim of 4:28.63 in the 500 freestyle, the ninth-best time. In the B Final, Bushman finished in a time of 4:30.75, good for 14th overall. Two more Lions qualified for the C Final as Josh Wakeley (Egg Harbor, N.J.) and Jack Zierenberg (Allison Park, Pa.) notched 22nd and 23rd showings swimming 4:36.00 and 4:36.41, respectively. Zierenberg swam a 4:33.75 in the prelims 18th overall.
In the 50 free, Alden garnered 12th place in the B Final after a 20.30 prelim swim and a 20.54 final. The sophomore standout was .17 off of qualifying for the A Final, but notched an NCAA "B" time.
Penn State ended the day in the 400 medley relay where it's A team was disqualified when Salig left the block too early. The B team of Jeff Gomez (Morristown, N.J.), Wilson, Bushman and Austin placed 12th in a time of 3:23.96.
The Nittany Lions scored 127 points, while Auburn led the event with 303 points. Host Georgia (292), Minnesota (227) and Virginia (170) round out the field. Day two of the Georgia Invitational continues on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. with the preliminary session followed by the evening finals.
--NITTANY LIONS--