Nov. 3, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Following season opening wins over West Virginia on Oct. 22, the Penn State swimming and diving teams head south this weekend to face Auburn and Georgia Tech. The Nittany Lions will first face Auburn on Friday, beginning at 5 p.m. ET. Following the matchup with the Tigers, Penn State will head east to take on Georgia Tech, Saturday at 11 a.m. ET.
On the men's side, Penn State earned a 143-98 win over West Virginia on Oct. 22. The Nittany Lions took the top two spots in the opening 200 medley relay to begin the meet with a 15-2 lead. Nate Savoy (Reading, Pa.) led the backstroke leg with a 23.13 before Mitch Scherer (Pottstown, Pa.), Sean Grier (Hummelstown, Pa.) and Shane Austin (Kennett Square, Pa.) capped off a 1:30.65 winning time. The team of Jeff Gomez (Morristown, N.J.), James Wilson (Nottingham, Pa.), Scott Marino (Scotch Plains, N.J.) and Jeff Young (Hershey, Pa.) finished second in a time of 1:32.87.
The Penn State dominance continued into the 1,000 free with freshmen Nick Ankosko (East Brunswick, N.J.) and Kurt Ratcliff (Centreville, Va.) going 1-2 in times of 9:33.96 and 9:37.73. Chris Cipolla (South River, N.J.) led a Nittany Lion sweep of the 400 IM (4:04.44), followed by Jonathan Ekstrom (Silver Spring, Md.; 4:05.00) and Marino (4:06.02).
Last time out on Oct. 22 for the women, Penn State cruised to a 137-96 victory over West Virginia. Penn State won 10 of 13 events, including one relay event. Junior Amy Modglin (Fort Myers, Fla.) won three, which included the 200-yard backstroke (1:57.68), 400-yard individual medley (4:18.74) and the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:31.65) against the Mountaineers. Her 200-yard backstroke time ranks second in the NCAA this year and is an NCAA provisional qualifying mark. For her efforts, Modglin earned Big Ten Swimmer of the Week.
Auburn's men will be competing at home for the first time this season after defeating SEC rival LSU, 218-82, back on Oct. 21. The women are 2-0 after earning wins over Arkansas and Notre Dame. This will be the third meeting in the all-time series between Auburn and Penn State. The Tigers took the first two decisions on both the men's and women's sides. Penn State coach John Hargis was a 1999 Auburn graduate and the captain of the Tigers' first NCAA Championship team in 1997.
Georgia Tech will be meeting both Penn State squads in the pool for the first time ever on Saturday.
For complete coverage of all the Nittany Lion swimming & diving this season, visit GoPSUsports.com.