IOWA CITY, Iowa. – Freshman Michael Daly broke the Penn State 400 IM record twice and joined senior diver Hector Garcia Boissier with a fourth-place finish to lead Penn State on the third day of the 2019 Big Ten Men's Swimming & Diving Championships. The Nittany Lions rose to sixth place with 397 points, trailing fifth-place Minnesota (455.5).
"We've scored more points at this point at this meet than we scored all of last year, and we still have a full day to go," said Penn State head coach Tim Murphy, "There's a lot for these guys to be proud of. People are really noticing Penn State at this meet."
Daly opened the 400 IM by dropping nearly three seconds off his previous best, touching second in the preliminaries 3:43.60 to advance to the A final. The previous Nittany Lion record was 3:46.08, set by Scott Marino in 2011. Daly broke his own record in the evening with a time of 3:42.48 to place fourth.
Daly was not the only Nittany Lion to score big points in the event. Sophomore Hayden Harlow placed eighth (3:47.90), and his preliminary round time of 3:47.23 beat his season-best time by over two seconds and ranks him as the third-fastest 400 IM in Penn State history. Freshman Will Lulek (3:47.36) became the fourth-fastest 400 IM performer in the school annals, winning the bonus final. Nathaniel Bledsoe followed in 21st maintaining his ranking as the ninth fastest performer with a personal-best time of 3:52.15.
On the boards, Garcia-Boissier placed fourth for a second consecutive day, doing so Friday in the 3-meter with a score of 441.15.
"Hector was solid and had a great meet. I'm glad he can be so consistent against a top field and answer some of the dives that others were doing and score as well or better," said Diving Coach Jeff DiNicola, "He really stepped up to the competition and gave himself the best opportunity to score well."
In the 100 back, junior Liam Veregin placed ninth overall after winning the B-final with an NCAA B-Cut and personal-best time of 46.81, which ranks him as fifth-fastest in school history. Senior Tomer Zamir earned a new season-high in the event as well with a time of 48.18, finishing 23rd overall.
Additionally, sophomore Brad Johnson led in the 100 breast for the Nittany Lions, earning an NCAA B-Cut time of 54.01 in the prelims to place him ninth in school history. He then finished 18th overall in the evening with a time of 54.11. In the 100 fly, the Nittany Lions were led by Zach Zwijacz with a time of 48.19, placing 27th, a season best for the freshman. He was followed by Matt DiNunzio (35th, 48.44) and Juliusz Gosieniecki (37th, 48.47). Nathaniel Schiffmann led for the Nittany Lions, placing 33rd in the 200 free (1:37.61), who was immediately followed by Gabe Castano (1:37.75), a season best.
In the 200 free relay, the team of Castano, Will Roberson, Dinunzio, and Austin Wilson, placed sixth in the event (1:18.26), making their mark as fourth all time.
The Penn State men will continue competition at the Big Ten Championships Saturday with preliminaries beginning at 12 p.m. and finals starting at 7:30 p.m. 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.
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 was 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
