Feb. 21, 2018
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MINNEAPOLIS -- A pair of sixth-place finishes in the opening two relays rank Penn State in a tie for fifth after the opening night of competition in the Big Ten Men's Swimming & Diving Championships Wednesday in Minnesota's Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center.
Liam Veregin (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada), Kaelan Freund (Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada), Tomer Zamir (Gesher Haziv, Israel) and Gabe Castano (Allentown, Pa.) opened the night for Penn State with a season-best time in the 200 medley relay, finishing in 1:26.16. Nathan Schiffmann (France), Ryan O'Neill (Howell, N.J.), Eben Krigger (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Matthew DiNunzio (Murrysville, Pa.) also posted a season best in the 800 free style relay, touching in 6:27.26.
"It was a nice way to start the meet," said Penn State head coach Tim Murphy. "We had some freshman perform for us tonight. Gabe anchoring the 200 medley, Eben in the 800 free and Nate leading off the 800 swam a very solid swim. Overall, we had some good things."
No. 3 Indiana leads with 128 points, while No. 7 Michigan and No. 16 Ohio State are tied for second with 108 points, and No. 21 Minnesota is fourth with 106 points. Penn State sits fifth with 96 points, tied with Iowa and Wisconsin.
"Now the fun begins," said Murphy. "Everybody swims tomorrow. There's good energy on the deck with the guys, so we'll need to pick that up and run with it tomorrow morning.
The meet resumes with preliminary heats will beginning at noon on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with the finals scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. each night. All sessions will be streamed live via BTN Plus on BTN2Go. Complimentary access to BTN2Go is available to viewers connected to the internet network of a Big Ten university. Fans elsewhere can sign up for the pay-per-view webcasts.
REMAINING SCHEDULE
Thursday, Feb. 22 - PRELIMS at Noon
500 Freestyle
200 Individual Medley
50 Freestyle
1-Meter Diving - Trials (1 p.m.)
1-Meter Diving - Consolation Final
Thursday, Feb. 22 - FINALS at 7:30 p.m.
500 Freestyle
200 Individual Medley
50 Freestyle
1-Meter Diving
400 Medley Relay
Friday, Feb. 23 - PRELIMS at Noon
100 Butterfly
400 Individual Medley
200 Freestyle
100 Breaststroke
100 Backstroke
3-Meter Diving - Trials (1 p.m.)
3-Meter Diving - Consolation Final
Friday, Feb. 23 - FINALS at 7:30 p.m.
100 Butterfly
400 Individual Medley
200 Freestyle
100 Breaststroke
100 Backstroke
3-Meter Diving
200 Freestyle Relay
Saturday, Feb. 24 - PRELIMS at Noon
200 Backstroke
100 Freestyle
200 Breaststroke
200 Butterfly
Platform Diving - Trials (1 p.m.)
Platform Diving - Consolation Final
1,650 Freestyle (Approx. 4:15 p.m.)
Saturday, Feb. 24 - FINALS at 7:30 p.m.
1,650 Freestyle
200 Backstroke
100 Freestyle
200 Breaststroke
200 Butterfly
Platform Diving
400 Freestyle Relay