Oct. 15, 2016
| PENN STATEat VIRGINIA TECH | |
| Men: Virginia Tech 175, Penn State 117 | |
Saturday, Oct. 15 | |
| Christiansburg Aquatic Center | Christiansburg, Va. | |
CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. ââ'¬" Great swims from Shane Ryan (Havertown, Pa.) and Katie Saloky (Bloomsburg, Pa.) were not enough for Penn State against Virginia Tech, as the Niitany Lion men and women were both defeated by the Hokies, 175-117 and 174-121, respectively, in a dual meet Saturday at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center.
"It's early," said head coach Tim Murphy. "I would have liked to seen a little bit more progress, but Katie Saloky and Shane had some strong swims. Other than that, we got out-hustled a little bit and have a lot of work to do."
Ryan swam the 100-yard backstroke in an NCAA event for the first time since taking bronze at the NCAA Championships in 2015, and swam an NCAA B-cut time of 44.03 seconds to win the event. Ryan also surpassed the provisional standard in the 100 freestyle, winning the event in 44.03 seconds. Additionally, Ryan led the 200 medley relay (1:30.50) and 400 free relay (3:02.21) teams to second place finishes.
On the women's side, Saloky narrowly missed the NCAA B standard in the 50 freestyle, touching first in 23.06 seconds. Saloky was also the runner-up in the 100 butterfly, touching one-tenth of a second shy of first in 54.87, and she led the 400 freestyle relay team to victory in 3:25.12.
"Katie is doing a better job of racing and stroke, and for Shane I think it was an opportunity to get settled back in and start racing at the level he is capable of," said Murphy. "Those were productive swims."
Heather MacDougal (La Crescenta, Calif.) and Tommie Dillione (Newtown, Pa.) also contributed to the winning 400 free effort and finished first (51.51) and second (51.69), respectively in 100 freestyle individually. Dillione also led Penn State and finished second overall in the 200 free in 1:51.18.
The Nittany Lion women were unable to claim gold in the distance events, but placed second and third in both. Casey Francis (East Meadow, N.Y.) swam in both the 500 (4:57.82) and 1000 (10:04.43) and took third in both. Ally McHugh (Philadelphia, Pa.) out-touched Francis in the 1000 in 10:04.23, and Katelyn Sowinski (Severna Park, Md.) (4:57.22) was the runner-up in the 500. Sowinski was also the runner-up in the 200 butterfly (2:01.47).
Additionally, Emily Harris (Downington, Pa.) reached the podium twice, placing runner-up in the 200 breast (2:19.19) and third in the 100 breast (1:05.39).
Notable performances on the men's side included JP Cervone (Sao Paulo, Brazil), who placed second in the 200 free (1:40.30) and third in the 500 freestyle (4:36.03), and freshman Kaelan Freund (Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada) who placed third in the 100 breaststroke (56.28) and fourth in the 200 breast (2:05.69).
"This meet pointed out our weaknesses, and we just need to stay focused and keep working hard, which I feel that we're doing."
Penn State will return to Virginia for a tri-meet against Virginia and Michigan Nov. 4-5.