March 1, 2013
Friday Results / Friday Prelims / Diving Prelims
Big Ten Championships Tournament Page / Live Results
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Penn State men's swimming and diving team continues to hold eighth place at the Big Ten Championships, with junior Sean Grier (Hummelstown, Pa.) breaking two school records during Friday's competition. Grier helped the Nittany Lions (5-2, 0-1 Big Ten)to 150 points after topping his own Penn State records in the 100 back and the 100 fly. The Lions came away from day three in Bloomington with 15 NCAA qualifying performances, as well.
Grier kicked off the day by winning the 100 fly preliminaries with a NCAA B cut qualifying time of 46.13 seconds, and followed up with a third-place showing in the A Final. The junior's time of 46.00 seconds breaks his own school record of 46.79, which was set in December at the UGA Invitational. Setting his second record of the day, Grier placed second in the 100 back preliminaries with an A cut qualifying time of 45.17 seconds. His original record of 46.38 was also set in December at the UGA Invitational. Grier went on to place second in the A Final, recording a time of 46.12 for a B cut performance. He now holds nine individual NCAA B cut times with one A cut performance.
Penn State's 200 free relay squad qualified for the NCAA Championships for the first time this season, with junior Shane Austin (Kennett Square, Pa.), Grier, junior John Hauser (Pottstown, Pa.) and sophomore Jeff Young (Hershey, Pa.) recording a time of 1:18.68. The sixth-place performance was just .32 seconds away from the A cut standards.
Sophomore Nate Savoy (Reading, Pa.) came away with two NCAA B cuts, first swimming a time of 46.59 in the 100 back preliminaries. Savoy competed in the A Final along with Grier, and finished fifth with a new personal best time of 46.51. Sophomore Kyle Madley (Madison, N.J.) won the C Final with a personal best time of 48.49, earning his first NCAA B cut of the season. Following the sophomore, junior Thomas Mershon (Malvern, Pa.) placed 21st with a time of 49.03. Mershon previously posted a season-best time of 48.84 in the preliminaries.
Winning the C Final of the 100 breast, junior James Wilson (Nottingham, Pa.) recorded a new personal best time of 54.32 for a NCAA B cut and 17th place. Wilson also exceeded national standards during the preliminaries, swimming a time of 54.62. Young followed the junior in the C Final, taking 23rd place with a time of 55.55. The sophomore notched a new personal record during the preliminaries, taking 26th with a time of 55.50.
Hauser recorded his first NCAA B cuts at the Big Tens, as well, taking 15th place in the B Final of the 200 free with a time of 1:36.68. The junior, who recorded his personal best time in the finals, also posted a B cut in the preliminaries with a time of 1:37.01. Junior Seth Wensel (Christiansburg, Va.) and sophomore Nick Ankosko (East Brunswick, N.J.) competed in the C Final, with Wensel taking 17th with a time of 1:37.80. It was the junior's personal best time and his first B cut of the season. Ankosko followed in 18th place, swimming a personal best time of 1:37.87 for a B cut, as well.
Rounding out the Lions' NCAA qualifying performances, junior Chris Cipolla (South River, N.J.) swam a season-best time of 3:53.38 in the preliminaries of the 400 IM. The co-captain went on to place 22nd in the C Final, swimming a time of 3:54.84. Following Cipolla in the preliminaries, junior Matt Salig (Downingtown, Pa.) placed 26th with a season-best time of 3:56.99, just .70 seconds off of his personal best record. Also competing in the preliminaries and recording personal best times, freshman Will Lee (Hershey, Pa.) took 28th (3:57.28), freshman Kevin Glenn (Matthews, N.C.) took 32nd (3:59.08) and freshman Max Byers (Glen Carbon, Ill.) took 36th (3:59.72). Additionally, sophomore Jonathan Ekstrom (Silver Spring, Md.) swam a season-best time of 3:59.41 for 33rd place.
Penn State had several Lions compete in the preliminaries of the 100 fly, with Madley finishing 25th with a personal best time of 48.90. Junior Andrew Sideras (Philadelphia) followed in 29th place with a personal best time of 49.09, while junior Peter Fittin (Sea Girt, N.J.) and freshman Jon Seiferth (Allison Park, Pa.) took 38th (50.42) and 41st, respectively. Seiferth's time of 50.95 was a personal record for the rookie.
Also recording new personal records in their events, freshman Andrew Eiken took 41st (1:39.23) in the 200 free preliminaries, while freshman Matt Grillo (Montreal, Quebec) took 54th (1:40.78). In the 100 back prelims, senior Jeff Gomez (Morristown, N.J.) finished with a personal best time of 49.25 for 28th place, and sophomore Ryan Magee(Chestnut Ridge, N.Y.) took 42nd with a time of 51.12.
Over at diving, junior Lucas Kachurick (McKeesport, Pa.) earned 28th place in the three-meter preliminaries with a score of 256.75. Following in 29th, sophomore T.J. Schenkel (Richboro, Pa.) recorded a score of 250.15. The Lions will conclude competition at the Big Ten Championships tomorrow, March 3 in Bloomington, competing in the 1,650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, platform diving and the 400 free relay.
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