PRINCETON, N.J. – Freshman Michael Daly led the Penn State men's swimming & diving team to a fourth-place finish at the Big Al Open hosted by Princeton in Denunzio Pool.
The Nittany Lions totaled 710 points trailing Princeton (897), Duke (756) and Northwestern (749.5). Lehigh was fifth with 627.5 points.
Nittany Lion Relays
Penn State's top relay performance of the weekend was in the men's 200 medley, as Liam Veregin, Brad Johnson, Matthew DiNunzio and Will Roberson touched second, less than a tenth-of-a second shy of first-place Princeton in 1:30.93. The Nittany Lions placed third in the 200 freestyle relay (1:23.63) and 400 medley relay (3:20.15) and fourth in the 800 free relay (6:46.06).
Top Individual Performances
Daly led the Nittany Lions for the weekend, totaling three top-three finishes. Saturday, Daly led the Lions with a second-place finish in the 200 back in 1:47.14, and he also placed 10th in the 200 fly in 1:52.96.
On the boards, Penn State was strong Saturday with Jack Crow placing fourth in the 3-meter with a score of 289.30. Bryce Hoch was sixth with 281.70 points and Jonah Cey seventh with 281.10. Friday, Cey was third on the platform, scoring 269.70 in his first career collegiate effort.
Harlow continued a strong weekend with his third top-five finish, placing fifth in the 200 breast in 2:04.65, while DiNunzio also earned a top-five in the 200 fly (1:50.12). Additionally, Roberson placed sixth in the 100 yard free in 45.37 and senior captain Robbie Dickson led Penn State in the mile, placing ninth in 15:59.82.
Friday, Daly and sophomore Hayden Harlow led the Nittany Lions with a pair of top-three finishes each. Daly won the 400 IM in 3:55.86 and was followed by Harlow in second (3:57.02). Additionally, Daly also posted a second-place finish in the 500 freestyle in a season-best 4:28.61, while Harlow led the Lions in the 200 IM with a third-place finish in 1:50.31 and did the same with a sixth-place finish in the 100 breast (56.88).
Following Daly in the 500 free was sophomore Eben Krigger, who also totaled double-digit points with a sixth-place finish (4:34.75). Following Harlow in the 200 IM was freshman Alec Peckmann in seventh (1:53.23), and in the 100 breast was Johnson in eighth (57.30).
Roberson also notched a third-place result, doing so in the 50 free (20.56), and DiNunzio also cracked the Top 10 in the event with a ninth-place finish (20.98). Juliusz Gosieniecki was third in the 100 butterfly in 49.77 seconds and followed by DiNunzio in sixth (50.12).
Next Up
Penn State will conclude competition in the Big Al Open with the third and final session starting at 10:30 a.m. Additionally, Penn State's Gabe Castano and Hector Garcia-Boissier will compete in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge at Purdue starting at 5 p.m. The competition at Princeton will be streamed live on ESPN+, while the ACC/Big Ten Challenge will be streamed on BTN Plus on BTN2Go.
Check GoPSUSports.com for coverage of the Penn State swimming and diving teams during the season. Follow the team on Twitter at @PennStateSWIM and on Facebook at facebook.com/pennstateswimminganddiving.
A fundraiser has been launched to support freshman women's swimmer Nikolette Nolte and her family for costs associated with her leukemia treatment. Any surplus funds will be donated to THON and the Jessie Rees Foundation to help others facing pediatric cancer. Donate at gopsu.info/nikistrong
