Nov. 8, 2013
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The Nittany Lions' men's swimming and diving program had an impressive first day of the meet in Charlottesville, Va. against Texas and Virginia. After day one, Penn State currently leads Virginia 94-92 and trails Texas 79-107 with a full day of races remaining.
Penn State had its best finish of the evening in the 100 freestyle. John Hauser (Pottsville, Pa.) continued his great start to the season by winning the meet with a time of 44.40. His teammate, Shane Ryan (Havertown, Pa.) touched the wall right after Hauser in 44.44 for a second place finish. Rounding out the race for PSU was Shane Austin (Kennett Square, Pa.) who placed fourth with a mark of 45.64.
Matt Salig (Downingtown, Pa.) was another Nittany Lion to record a first place finish. The senior won the 200 butterfly by .02 seconds over Texas, finishing in 1:48.26, the fastest time of the season for any PSU swimmer.
The Blue and White started the meet off with a thrilling finish in the 200 freestyle relay. PSU's relay team of Ryan, Austin, Sean Grier (Hummelstown, Pa.) and Hauser turned in a season best time of 1:20.86 and was narrowly out-touched at the wall by Texas who finished .03 seconds faster with a mark of 1:20.89.
Nate Savoy (Reading, Pa.) followed up the relay team's performance with a solid showing of his own in the 200 IM and 200 backstroke. The junior finished second in the IM with a time of 1:49.70, the fastest of any Penn State athlete in the event this season. Texas claimed first, third and fourth place in the race. Savoy then picked up another second place finish in the backstroke, touching the wall in 1:45.70. The time hits the NCAA "B" qualifying standard and was his best time in the event of the season.
The Nittany Lions finished the evening with a great race in the 400 medley relay. The Nittany Lion team of Ryan, James Wilson (Nottingham, Pa.), Grier and Hauser won the competition in fine fashion, touching the wall in 3:15.13, just .07 seconds before the team of Texas swimmers.
The meet will conclude tomorrow with the second and final day of the meet. The 200 medley relay, the first event on Saturday, is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m.
After this weekend's competition at Virginia, the men's and women's teams have around a month hiatus before returning to the pool for the Texas Invitational, a three day event at the beginning of December. The invite is scheduled to run from Thursday, Dec. 5 through Saturday, Dec. 7.
Check back to GoPSUSports.com for continued coverage of the Penn State swimming and diving teams during the 2013-14 season. Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/PennStateSWIM and find us on Facebook at facebook.com/pennstateswimminganddiving.