March 24, 2012
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FEDERAL WAY, Wash. - The Penn State men's swimming team posted two All-America worthy performances Friday night at the NCAA Championships another honorable mention showing. The 200 medley Relay finished eighth in 1:26.15, while freshman Nate Savoy (Reading, Pa.) also captured eighth in the 100 backstroke (48.67) for All-America honors. Senior Scott Marino (Scotch Plains, N.J.) was 16th in the 400 IM to earn honorable All-America honors.
Penn State moved up to 14th place with 56 total points. The Nittany Lions were in 16th after Thursday's events with 22 points. PSU is the fourth amongst Big Ten teams with Michigan (199 points) in fifth, Indiana (102) in 10th and Ohio State (92) in 11th.
Penn State added another medley relay to the All-America list on Friday night as the 200-yard edition consisting of Savoy, Mitch Scherer (Pottstown, Pa.), Sean Grier (Hummelstown, Pa.) and Shane Austin (Kennett Square, Pa.) finished in a time of 1:26.15 for eighth place. PSU last night finished eighth in the 400 medley relay with the same four swimmers to pace the Nittany Lions.
Savoy represented the Nittany Lions' first individual qualifier in the championship final of an event in four years (Patrick Schirk, 200 backstroke, 2008). Savoy slipped at the beginning of the 100 backstroke and finished in 48.67 to earn PSU's first individual All-America honors since Schirk won the 200 back as Penn State's first national champion.
Marino competed in the 400 IM, earning 16th place, finishing the event in 3:48.66. Marino earned honorable mention All-America for his showing in the consolation finals.
Friday's action concluded with the 800 freestyle relay, but PSU had a declared false start and didn't register any points. The Nittany Lions return to the pool on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. ET with the finals taking place at 10:00 p.m. ET.
--NITTANY LIONS--