Jan. 14, 2017
| PENN STATE vs. YALE | |
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Complete Results | |
| McCoy Natatorium | University Park, Pa. |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. ââ'¬" The Penn State men's swimming & diving team used a total team effort to edge Yale in a dual meet that went down to the final race, 185-168, Saturday in McCoy Natatorium.
The two teams were tied 93-93 after Friday evening, and went back-and-forth Saturday. After winning the 400 IM, Yale (8-1) trailed Penn State (2-3) by eight points going into the final 400 freestyle relay. JP Cervone (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Bob Bantley (Maple Glen, Pa.) led the race off, and Matt Stasiunas (Avondale, Pa.) swam the third leg despite swimming in and placing fifth in the 400 IM the race before. The trio kept Penn State at the front, allowing Shane Ryan (Havertown, Pa.) to close the race and the meet out, as he touched first for a team time of 2:59.46.
Ryan also set his second pool record in as many days, winning the 100 butterfly in an NCAA B-cut time of 47.24 seconds. The previous record was 47.98 set by Sean Grier in 2013. He also nearly bested his own pool record in the 100 free, winning that event in 43.93 seconds ââ'¬" a tenth of a second shy of his effort in McCoy from 2014.
Over the two-day meet, Ryan placed first six times, helping three relays and touching first individually three times. On Friday, Ryan became the first to swim the 50 freestyle in a sub-20 second time, winning the event in 19.72 seconds. The returning Olympian was also a key contributor to a pair of winning relay efforts, joining Liam Veregin (Ottawa, Ontario), Kaelan Freund (Lethbridge, Alberta) and Tomer Zamir (Gesher Haziv, Israel) on the opening 400 medley relay (3:18.38), and Zamir, Bantley and Stasiunas in the closing 200 freestyle relay (1:21.73).
The Nittany Lions' continued dominance on the boards was also major factor in the victory. Hector Garcia Boissier (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain) posted a personal-best score of 414.55 to lead the Lions in the 3-meter, while Jack Crow (Bethesda, Md.) was second at 355.60. Connor Scanlon (Laurel, Md.), who led a 1-2-3 sweep in the 1-meter Friday, was fourth at 277.00. In the 1-meter Friday, Scanlon's 305.50 was good enough for first, and he was followed in order by Crow at 299.50 and Garcia at 282.95.
Penn State started Saturday strong with a win in the 200 medley relay, as Veregin, Freund, Zamir and Bantley teamed up to touch first in 1:29.83. Stasiunas started his busy day with a second place finish in the 500 free in 4:31.30. Ryan won two of the next three men's events, and Freund then won the 200 breast in 2:00.58 and fought for second in the 400 IM (4:02.04) in the very next event to give Penn State the lead for good.
On Friday, Stasiunas won the 200 free in 1:38.98, while Freund posted an NCAA B-cut time of 55.42 in the 100 breaststroke. Freund also took silver in the 200 IM in 1:49.89.
Penn State will next host Navy for Senior Day Saturday starting at 11 a.m. It will also be Military Appreciation Day, and the intermission breaks will feature a Penn State Ability Athletics exhibition race and the second annual Great Penn State Duck Toss, respectively.