June 16, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State swimming head coach John Hargis rounded out his 2012 recruiting class by welcoming 12 newcomers to the Nittany Lion squad. Hargis added six transfers and six freshmen on Saturday, bringing the cast of new swimmers to 17 for the upcoming 2012-13 year.
Hargis added Maryland transfers Peter Fittin (Sea Girt, N.J.), John Hauser (Pottstown, Pa.), Kyle Madley (Madison, N.J.) and Ryan Magee (Chestnut Ridge, N.Y.). Fittin and Hauser come to Penn State after two years in College Park, while Madley and Magee spent one year as Terrapins.
Hauser highlights the UM quartet as he was named Maryland's most valuable swimmer notching top team times in the 50 free (20.19), 100 free (44.15), 200 free (1:36.86) and 200 IM (1:48.25). Hauser was twice named ACC Men's Swimming Performer of the Week during the 2011-12 season. Hauser and Madley have each qualified for the upcoming U.S. Olympic Trials in Omaha, Neb. Hauser will swim in the 50, 100 and 200 free events, while Madley will compete in the 100 back.
The fifth transfer is Tim Maurer (Hershey, Pa.) out of Virginia. Maurer was a four-time All-American at Lower Dauphin high school and has qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 100 and 200 backstroke events.
The final transfer to join the Nittany Lions is Alex Galinskiy (Parlin, N.J.) out of Drexel University. A freestyle specialist, Galinskiy had an impressive freshman year for the Dragons, swimming personal bests of 20.99 in the 50 free, 45.50 in the 100 free and 1:37.96 in the 200 free. He led Drexel in the 100 and 200 free events.
As for incoming freshman, Hargis and company added six new Lions, to up the freshman total for the 2012-13 season to 11. Matthew Drohan (Kennett Square, Pa.), Will Lee (Hershey, Pa.), Philip Mancuso (Hershey, Pa.), Kyle Ruddle (Hershey, Pa.), Chase Schell (Tacoma, Wash.) and Jon Seiferth (Allison Park, Pa.).
Lee, Mancuso and Ruddle recently led Hershey High School to its third straight PIAA AAA Championship, continuing the pipeline of Hershey products to Happy Valley. The aforementioned threesome joins junior All-American Sean Grier (Hummelstown, Pa.) and Jeff Young (Hershey, Pa.) as Hershey High swimmers from Greg Fastrich's program. Maurer also swam for Fastrich and with the other five student-athletes at Hershey Aquatics. In all, 22 members of the Nittany Lion squad hail from Pennsylvania.
Galinskiy, Fittin and Madley continue the New Jersey portion of the East Coast recruiting that the Nittany Lions have employed during Hargis's tenure. Those three join sophomore Nick Ankosko (East Brunswick, N.J.), Chris Cipolla (South River, N.J.) and Jeff Gomez (Morristown, N.J.) from the Garden State.
The 12 newcomers join the previously announced five freshman from December's early recruiting release. That quintet features Max Byers (Glen Carbon, Ill.), Andrew Eiken (Naperville, Ill.), Kevin Glenn (Matthews, N.C.), Matt Grillo (Montreal, Quebec) and Shane Ryan (Havertown, Pa.). Ryan and Glenn will compete at U.S. Olympic Trials beginning next week, while Grillo was a Canadian Olympic Trials participant in March.
The talented recruiting class looks to continue Penn State's rise in national prominence, as the Nittany Lions recently completed their best season since 2002 by finishing in 17th place at NCAAs. Penn State had both the 200 and 400 medley relay teams earn All-America distinction and Nate Savoy (Reading, Pa.) captured PSU's first individual All-America honors since Patrick Schirk won the 200 backstroke in 2008. Of Penn State's five All-Americans, the Lions return Savoy, Grier and Shane Austin (Kennett Square, Pa.) along with NCAA qualifier Matt Salig (Downingtown, Pa.).
Beginning June 25, The U.S. Olympic Trials begin in Omaha, Neb. Penn State will send 35 current and past members from both the men's and women's squads to compete. A full list of the student-athletes and their respective events will be released later this week.
--NITTANY LIONS--