Nov. 9, 2013
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The Penn State men's swimming and diving program defeated Virginia in the two day meet by a final score of 191-162. The win over the Cavaliers is the 11th in program history and the first since the 1996-97 season, snapping a 12-meet losing streak. The Lions were narrowly edged by No. 6 Texas 185-168.
After two great relays last evening, the Nittany Lions picked up right where they left off to start the second and final day of the meet. The quartet of Nate Savoy (Reading, Pa.), James Wilson (Nottingham, Pa.), Sean Grier (Hummelstown, Pa.) and John Hauser (Pottsville, Pa.) crushed the rest of the field in the 200 medley relay. The team finished in a Penn State season best 1:27.75 and touched the wall more than two seconds faster than the second place team.
In the 50 freestyle, the third event of the morning, Penn State claimed first and third place with Shane Ryan (Havertown, Pa.) winning the race in 20.38 and John Hauser touching the wall third with a mark of 20.45. Ryan's time of 20.38 was his fastest of the season in the event.
The sophomore immediately followed up his win with an even better performance in the 100 back. Ryan competed in the event for the first time this season and made a big impact, as the sophomore won with a time of 47.87 and was the only contestant under 48 seconds in the event. PSU's Savoy was the second to touch the wall in the race, turning in his best time of the season with a mark of 48.14. Both Ryan and Savoy reached the NCAA "B" qualifying standard with their times.
In the 100 butterfly, Grier grabbed a second place finish for the Blue and White. The senior raced to a time of 48.79 in the event, his second-best time of the season.
The Nittany Lions then produced a strong showing in the 200 freestyle, as a trio of Penn State swimmers finished in the top four of the race. Hauser paced the Lions with a time of 1:38.12 in a second place effort. Scott Heil (New Brunswick, N.J.) and Matt Stasiunas (Avondale, Pa.) finished third and fourth respectively with marks of 1:39.73 and 1:39.85.
Penn State finished the second day of the meet in the same fashion it began, with a great relay performance. The Blue and White team of Ryan, Stasiunas, Shane Austin (Kennett Square, Pa.) and Hauser won the 400 freestyle relay, finishing in 2:57.86, nearly two seconds faster than the second place team. PSU also grabbed third in the race with Grier, Andrew Sideras (Philadelphi, Pa.), Heil and Matt Grillo (Montreal, Quebec) turned in a time of 3:01.93.
Other notable Lion performances from the final day included Chris Cipolla's (South River, N.J.) fourth place finish in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:04.58 and Savoy coming in fourth in the 400 IM, posting a mark of 3:57.09. Nick Anksoko (East Brunswick, N.J.) led all Nittany Lions in the 1000 freestyle, touching the wall in 9:24.55 to earn sixth place.
Over the two days, Penn State produced seven first place finishes, four in individual events and three in relay races. The Nittany Lions had 17 top three finishes in the 17 swimming events.
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.