Jan. 28, 2012
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Penn State men's swimming & diving team completed its time at McCorkle Aquatic Center on Saturday afternoon, dropping duals to No. 4 Michigan, 264-70, and host No. 9 Ohio State, 243-91.
Facing its toughest competition of the season, the Nittany Lions (2-6) were unable to overcome two fast teams in OSU and Michigan. Senior Mitch Scherer (Pottstown, Pa.) had the highlight showing of the day in the 100 breaststroke. Scherer clocked a 55.67, narrowly defeated by Michigan's Richard Funk (55.64), topping all Ohio State swimmers.
Sean Grier also posted a second-place finish in the 100 fly in a time of 48.65. Grier out-swam all Ohio State swimmers in the process to help pace Penn State.
Another top performance was freshman Nate Savoy's (Reading, Pa.) third-place swim in the 200 backstroke, finishing in a time of 1:47.16 behind senior All-Americans from OSU and Michigan. Savoy came back later to finish fifth in the 200 IM with a time of 1:51.76. Fellow freshman Nick Ankosko was fifth in the 500 freestyle (4:32.31) just tenths of a second off a personal-best.
The day was capped by the 200 freestyle relay of Andrew Sidears (Philadelphia, Pa.), Shane Austin (Kennett Square, Pa.), Grier and Scott Marino (Scotch Plains, N.J.) with a fourth-place outing in a time of 1:23.45. The A team 200 medley relay was one of two disqualifications including OSU's top squad.
The Nittany Lions were once again without the services of All-American freestyle specialist Brian Alden (Lansdale, Pa.) who is still working back from injury.
Penn State will honor its four seniors--Alden, Scherer, Marino and Brent Sanderson (Chadds Ford, Pa.)--next weekend as the Nittany Lions participate in two duals. PSU hosts Buffalo on Friday at 4:00 p.m. before taking on Lehigh at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. The Senior Meet ceremonies will take place prior to the Lehigh meet along with the Nittany Lion women.
--NITTANY LIONS--