Dec. 6, 2015
| UGA FALL INVITE BIG AL OPEN | |
Gabrielsen Natatorium | Athens, Ga. | |
| DeNunzio Pool | Princeton, N.J. | |
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UGA: Final Results
PRIN: Final Results2015-16 Top Times: Penn State Women | Penn State Men
ATHENS, Ga./PRINCETON, N.J. ââ'¬" The Penn State men's swimming and diving team placed sixth Sunday on the final day of competition at the Georgia Fall Invitational in Gabrielsen Natatorium. The Nittany Lions were also in action at the Big Al Open hosted by Princeton in DeNunzio Pool.
Rory Lewis (Kensington, Md.) posted the team's top time with a provisional qualifier in the 200 butterfly of 1:46.47. Matt Stasiunas (Avondale, Pa.) also continued to lead to the Nittany Lions, placing 10th in the mile in 15:32.29. Robbie Dickson (Greenwich, N.J.) also swam well in the event, placing 16th in 15:53.30.
Penn State head coach Tim Murphy was pleased with the young team's progress over the weekend.
"It's a real learning curve and they've been pushing it pretty good," said Murphy. "But again, you're at a trials and finals meet, and we're racked up with some of the top teams in the country, so it really gives them an idea of what they're up against going into the season, the level they have to perform at from morning swims to night swims. They've responded well and they made progress. They're learning and not swimming scared, they're going at it. It's been a nice progression. The personality of the team, the work ethic and where we need to set the bar is pretty clear. Now we need to begin to get back to work in the classroom and the pool and kind of build on where we're at. We've got a good foothold now."
Matt Grillo (Montreal, Quebec) epitomized the team's fight in the 100 freestyle. After swimming a 45.06 in the prelims and a 45.56 in the finals to place 22nd, he swam the leadoff leg of the 4x100 freestyle relay in 44.82, helping the team to a 10th-place finish.
Host No. 4 Georgia won the meet and was followed by No. 2 Cal and No. 9 Auburn in the top three.
Penn State will return to competition in the New Year, resuming at Yale in a tri-meet with Rutgers Jan. 15-16.
On Saturday, Stasiunas placed 10th in the 200 free in a season-best 1:37.54. Additionally, Ryan O'Neill (Howell, N.J.) was 18th in 1:38.07, while Lewis was 22nd in 1:39.40.
Penn State placed three in the C-final in the 400 individual medley. led by Nathaniel Bledsoe (Carmel, Ind.), who placed second in the heat in 3:56.73. Dickson (4:00.07) and Samuel Petrini (Bellevue, Wash.) (4:09.92) also swam in the heat.
The Nittany Lions also had success in the 100 backstroke with two in the C-final. Tomer Zamir (Gesher Haziv, Israel) was second in the heat in 49.13, and Tim Maurer (Hershey, Pa.) was third in 49.16.
Zamir swam the first leg of the 200 medley relay, and was joined by Andrew Schuehler (Camden, N.J.), Grillo and Zach Kantz (Mount Bethel, Pa.) in a ninth place effort that finished in 1:29.82.
At Princeton, Connor Scanlon (Laurel, Md.) led Penn State in the 3-meter dive with a score of 334.95 to place second, while Logan Knauss (Audubon, Pa.) was fifth at 316.60. Also placing fifth was David Gross (Perryville, Md.) in the 400 IM, touching in 3:56.53. Joseph Ahlberg (Glastonbury, Conn.) also swam in the same event and placed 11th in 3:59.20. Additionally, Michael Skibniewski (Monroe Township, Pa.) was 15th in the 100 butterfly in 49.87.
Grillo, Stasiunas and Knauss led Penn State after the first day of competition Friday.
In Georgia, Grillo and Stasiunas were the men's top individual swimmers. Grillo swam a season-best 20.28 in the 50 freestyle preliminaries and placed 15th in the finals in 20.35.
Stasiunas scored in the 500 freestyle, placing 16th in 4:28.92. He swam a season-best 4:26.45 in the preliminaries.
The men's top 200 free relay effort, composed of Zamir, Grillo, Kantz and Lewis swam a season-best 1:21.50 to place ninth, while the 400 medley relay team of Zamir, Schueler, Grillo and Stasiunas also swam a season-best, touching the wall in 3:19.19 to place 13th.
At Princeton, Knauss placed fourth in the 1-meter dive with a score of 290.40, and Jack Crow (Bethesda, Md.) was seventh with a total score 279.45.
Both meets will conclude Sunday. The Georgia meet will resume with preliminary rounds at 9:30 a.m., while the Princeton meet will resume at 10 a.m. Finals in Georgia will start at 3 p.m. and in Princeton at 5 p.m.