Nov. 10, 2012
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's swimming and diving team moved to a 2-0 record on Saturday afternoon, defeating Villanova 211-81 in the first home meet of the 2012-13 season. The Nittany Lions swept 12 of the 16 events and had 34 top-three finishes against the Wildcats. Junior Sean Grier (Hummelstown, Pa,) helped lead the squad to the commanding victory, breaking a 13-year old pool record in the 100 back.
Grier led a Penn State sweep of the 100 back, winning the event with a time of 48.00 seconds to break the McCoy Natatorium pool record. Josh Weaver originally set the record of 48.58 seconds in 1999. The junior went on to swim the best time in the 100 fly, clocking in at 48.56 seconds for nine points.
The Lions kicked off the dual meet with a sweep of the 200 medley relay, with the squad of sophomore Nate Savoy (Reading, Pa.), junior James Wilson (Nottingham, Pa.), Grier and freshman Shane Ryan (Havertown, Pa.) earning first place with a time of 1:29.54. Senior Jeff Gomez (Morristown, N.J.), junior John Hauser (Pottstown, Pa.), freshman Philip Mancuso (Hershey, Pa.) and junior Andrew Sideras (Philadelphia, Pa.) followed in second with 1:33.43, while sophomore Kyle Madley (Madison, N.J.), freshman Max Byers (Glen Carbon, Ill.), sophomore Alex Galinskiy (Parlin, N.J.) and sophomore Jeff Young (Hershey, Pa.) finished in 1:36.27.
Recording his first individual victory as a Lion, Ryan led a sweep of the 50 free with a time of 20.46 seconds before claiming first in the 100 free with a personal best of 45.00 seconds. The rookie was followed by junior Shane Austin (Kennett Square, Pa.; 21.09) and Sideras (21.11) in the 50 free, and led a sweep in the 100 free ahead of junior Seth Wensel (Christiansburg, Va.; 47.36) and freshman Andrew Eiken (Naperville, Ill.; 48.55).
Also recording their first wins in an individual event, Mancuso led a sweep in the 200 fly with a personal best time of 1:53.34, while Byers claimed the 200 breast with a time of 2:12.53. Mancuso led fellow rookies Jon Seiferth (Allison Park, Pa.), finishing second with 1:55.27, and Chase Schell (Tacoma, Wash.), finishing in 2:00.38 for third place. Byers led Wilson (2:12.68) and freshman Will Lee (Hershey, Pa.; 2:14.20) in the 200 breast for the sweep, and went on to take second in the 100 breast with a time of 1:00.25 behind Wilson, who claimed victory with a time of 58.20.
Wilson is one of several Lions that won their individual events, including sophomore Nick Ankosko (East Brunswick, N.J.), Hauser and Savoy. Ankosko claimed the 1,000 free with a time of 9:16.50 and went on to post the best time in the 500 free (4:29.35), while Hauser earned first in the 200 free with a time of 1:40.16. Hauser led the Penn State sweep ahead of Eiken, who clocked in at 1:42.95 for a personal best time, and Galinskiy (1:43.19). Savoy won the 200 back to lead a sweep, as well, recording a time of 1:49.48. The sophomore was followed by Madley in second place with 1:54.16 and Gomez in third with 1:55.11.
Penn State divers also dominated their events, sweeping both the one- and three-meter boards. Sophomore T.J. Schenkel (Richboro, Pa.) set two new personal best records, winning the one-meter dive with a score of 301.05 and winning the three-meter dive with a score of 332.92. Claiming second on both the one- and three meter boards, senior Alex Marchinski (Shillington, Pa.) recorded respective scores of 285.82 and 300.52. Rounding out the sweep to make his debut as a Lion, junior Lucas Kachurick (McKeesport, Pa.) earned 258.60 points on the one-meter dive and recorded a score of 266.77 on the three-meter board for third place.
Adding to the 211 points recorded by the Lions, Lee and Gomez each earned second-place finishes in the 1,000 free (9:43.43) and the 100 back (52.35), respectively. Madley earned third in the 100 back to complete a Penn State sweep with a time of 52.48 seconds, as well.
Penn State returns to action on Friday, Nov. 16 when the squad travels to Bloomington, Indiana for a weekend tri-meet against Indiana and Virginia. Competition will begin at 5 p.m. on Friday and 11 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 17.
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