Jan. 27, 2012
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Penn State men's swimming & diving returned to the McCorkle Aquatic Center for the first time since December, falling behind the fourth-ranked Michigan Wolverines and ninth-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes on Friday night. The three teams will continue to compete Saturday.
Penn State finished third in the 400 medley relay, narrowly beaten by OSU (3:15.20), as the Nittany Lions finished in a time of 3:15.86. Nate Savoy (Reading, Pa.), Mitch Scherer (Pottstown, Pa.), Sean Grier (Hummelstown, Pa.) and Shane Austin (Kennett Square, Pa.) rounded out the foursome.
One of the standout performances of the night was freshman Nick Ankosko's (East Brunswick, N.J.) 1,000 freestyle effort. Anskosko was fourth in the event, but swam the third-fastest time in Penn State history (9:14.89).
Penn State had Scherer and Chris Cipolla (South River, N.J.) finished second and third, respectively, in the 200 breaststroke behind Michigan's Richard Funk. Scherer touched the wall in 2:03.46, while Cipolla clocked a 2:03.49.
Grier posted a 48.86, a third-place showing for the Nittany Lions in the 100 backstroke. Penn State saw some disappointment in the 400 freestyle relay, the final event of Friday night, as the A squad was disqualified. The Nittany Lions clocked a 3:03.09, which would've placed Penn State third in the event.
In the diving events Alex Marchinski led PSU with seventh-place showings in the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard competitions.
OSU leads Penn State 137-49, while Michigan is ahead of the Lions 147-39. The two-day meet continues Saturday at Noon with live stats available courtesy of Ohio State.
--NITTANY LIONS--