Nov. 16, 2012
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Opening competition against Indiana and Virginia on Friday afternoon, the Penn State men's swimming and diving team swam to four initial victories in the first nine events of the tri-meet. The Nittany Lions (2-0) currently trail the Cavaliers (3-0) 94-73 and closely follow the Hoosiers (2-2) with a score of 87-80. Indiana leads Virginia, as well, with a score of 84-83. The neck and neck battle will continue Saturday, Nov. 17 at 11 a.m. with the final 10 events.
Beginning with a victory in the 200 free relay, freshman Shane Ryan (Havertown, Pa.), junior Sean Grier (Hummelstown, Pa.), junior Andrew Sideras (Philadelphia, Pa.) and junior Shane Austin (Kennett Square, Pa.) swam a collective time of 1:20.98 to clear the Cavaliers' second-place squad by 2.01 seconds. The team of junior John Hauser (Pottstown, Pa.), sophomore Jeff Young (Hershey, Pa.), freshman Matt Grillo (Montreal, Quebec) and sophomore Alex Galinskiy (Parlin, N.J.) followed with a time of 1:23.01 for third.
Recording an individual win for Penn State, junior Matt Salig (Downingtown, Pa.) claimed the 200 fly with a time of 1:48.55, besting Virginia's David Ingraham by .27 seconds. Dominating the 100 free, Ryan recorded a new personal best time of 44.47 seconds for his second consecutive week of winning the event. The rookie was followed by Hauser in second (45.28) and Austin in fourth (45.68).
The Lions concluded the swimming portion of the competition by winning the 400 medley relay, with sophomore Nate Savoy (Reading, Pa.), junior James Wilson (Nottingham, Pa.), Grier and Ryan swimming a time of 3:17.50.
Penn State recorded seven top-three spots, including Savoy's third-place finish in the 200 back (1:47.27). Additionally, four Lions swam to fourth-place finishes, with Salig competing in the 200 IM (1:50.53), sophomore Nick Ankosko (East Brunswick, N.J.) competing in the 500 free (4:26.18), Wilson competing in the 100 breast (56.71) and Grier competing in the 200 back (1:48.47).
Representing Penn State in the diving portion, senior Alex Marchinski (Shillington, Pa.) and sophomore T.J. Schenkel (Richboro, Pa.) competed on the three-meter board for the Lions. Marchinski claimed sixth place with a score of 278.90, while Schenkel took tenth with a score of 236.65.
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