Jan. 29, 2011
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The Penn State men's swimming & diving team battled to a 1-2 weekend at Michigan, beating Northwestern 176-158, but falling to No. 13 Ohio State, 235-87 and No. 11 Michigan, 262-72.
Penn State (4-6) opened the second day's proceedings with a third-place, NCAA B time showing of 1:29.04 in the 200 medley relay. Graham Risley (Riverside, Ill.) led off with a 24.82 split in the 50 back before giving way to Mitch Scherer (Pottstown, Pa.) for the breaststroke and Sean Grier (Hummelstown, Pa.) in the butterfly. Brian Alden (Lansdale, Pa.) closed with a 50 free split of 19.75 to secure PSU's NCAA provisional showing.
Scherer came back to the pool for the 100 breaststroke, poised for victory. Unfortunately for the junior breaststroke specialist, Scherer couldn't hold on to a lead, garnering second place in an NCAA B cut time of 55.49. Scherer was beaten out by OSU's Justin Farra by just .29.
Alden turned in a solid individual performance of his own by posting a third-place offering in the 100 freestyle. Alden touched the wall in 45.07.
Risley returned to the racing pool as well in the 200 backstroke, registering eighth place. The sophomore backstroke specialist has shown steady improvement in 2011 since returning from illness and injury, swimming a time of 1:50.57 in the event.
The Nittany Lions capped their road portion of the dual meet schedule and head home to McCoy Natatorium for two meets next week. Buffalo visits Happy Valley on Feb. 4 for a 4:00 p.m. meet before Penn State honors its senior class against Lehigh on Feb. 5, the final tune-up before the Big Ten Championships in Minneapolis, Minn.
--NITTANY LIONS--