March 28, 2013
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The Penn State men's swimming team kicked off the first day of competition at the 2013 NCAA Championships on Thursday, with the 400 medley relay squad taking eight-place to earn All-America honors. The Nittany Lions finished with a time of 3:08.42 to earn All-America honors for the second straight year in the event. Penn State currently sits in 14th place with 22nd points.
Stealing the last spot in the finals during the preliminaries, the team of sophomore Nate Savoy (Reading, Pa.), junior James Wilson (Nottingham, Pa.), junior Sean Grier (Hummelstown, Pa.) and junior John Hauser (Pottstown, Pa.) touched the wall in 3:08.31 to earn eighth place and qualify for the A Finals. Their season-best time of 3:08.42 would give Penn State its first All-America accolades of the meet, and would earn Grier and Savoy honors for the second consecutive year. In 2012, the duo, along with junior Shane Austin (Kennett Square, Pa.) and Penn State alum Mitch Scherer, took eighth with a time of 3:08.77. That same foursome holds the all-time school record in the event with a time of 3:07.62, recorded in the preliminaries.
The Lions opened the NCAA Championships with a 20th-place showing in the 200 free relay. The squad of Austin, Hauser, Grier and Savoy posted a time of 1:18.91 in the preliminaries for their season-best performance in the event. Penn State originally qualified for the NCAAs in the 200 free relay at the Big Ten Championships, with Austin, Grier, Hauser and sophomore Jeff Young (Hershey, Pa.) swimming a time of 1:18.68. At last year's Championships, Austin and Grier helped their squad to an 18th-place finish with a time of 1:19.02. The juniors are now veterans of the NCAAs, with Grier making his third appearance and Austin making his second. Savoy is making his second appearance, as well, while Hauser makes his first appearance as a Nittany Lion.
Competing at the NCAA Championships for the first time, sophomore Nick Ankosko (East Brunswick, N.J.) competed in the 500 free, the first Lion to do so since 2002. Ankosko finished 26th with a time of 4:19.53, after most recently breaking the all-time Penn State record with a preliminary time of 4:18.56 at the Big Ten Championships. The sophomore qualified for the event twice during the year, posting times of 4:22.28 at the UGA Fall Invitational and 4:20.48 at the Big Tens.
Penn State returns to action tomorrow, March 29, with preliminary events beginning at 11 a.m. and finals beginning at 7 p.m. in Indianapolis. Several Nittany Lions will compete in the 200 medley relay, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back and 800 free relay. A full schedule of events is listed below, all of which can be followed via Live Results.
Friday
200 Medley Relay
400 IM
100 Fly
200 Free
100 Breast
100 Back
800 Free Relay
Three-Meter Diving
Saturday
1,650 Free
200 Back
100 Free
200 Breast
200 Fly
Platform Diving
400 Free Relay
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