UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.- The Penn State Nittany Lions men's swimming and diving team was victorious against the Villanova Wildcats today at McCoy Natatorium by a score of 224-74.
The men's team was able to sweep six different events on the day which helped propel them to the win.
With the win, the Nittany Lions end their regular season 5-3 while also recognizing their seniors pre-meet with a very special senior day ceremony. Zach Brewer, Ben Doyle, Tommy Hurley, Jacob Oberle and Calvin Wise were all recognized for their commitment to the program over the past four years.
Top Swims
The Nittany Lions enjoyed a clean sweep of the 200 free but junior Victor Baganha emerged victorious in a time of 1:39.27. Eduardo Cisternas wasn't far behind finishing second in a time of 1:39.47. Sophomore Mariano Lazzerini finished off the sweep in a time of 1:40.03.
In the 100 back, the Nittany Lions swept yet again this time with sophomore Cooper Morley in the top spot swimming to a time of 48.63. He was followed by junior Jack Harvey with a time of 49.18 and freshman Sean Honey with a time of 51.37.
Doyle celebrated his senior day with a win in the 100 breast in an impressive time of 57.18. Graduate senior Lachlan Byrne finished in the second spot with a time of 58.59.
Freshman Caden Davis got his evening started with a win in the 200 fly posting a blazing fast time of 1:53.13. Fellow freshman Alex Karahalis finished behind him with a time of 1:53.19.
The fourth sweep of the day came in the 50 free as freshman Tylor Kim beat teammates Hurley (21.12) and sophomore Justin Schneider (21.55) to win in a time of 20.72.
Yet another sweep was made by the Nittany Lions in the 100 free as junior Victor Bagnaha finished in the top spot with a time of 45.42 followed by Byrne who finished 46.35 and sophomore Ryan McNutt who finished in 47.19.
The final sweep of the day came in the 400 IM as sophomore Andrew Christiansen out swam his teammates Honey (4:02.09) and Karahalis (4:04.05) to take the win in an impressive time of 4:00.32.
Relays
The day got started with the 400 medley relay team of Morley, Lazzerini, Baganha and Kim putting on a dominating performance winning the event with time to spare. Their time of 3:14.99 was five seconds faster than the second place team of Matthew Bittner, Alex Karahalis, Caden Davis and Lachlan Byrne.
The 200 medley relay team took the top spot for the Nittany Lions to end the night.
Dives
Sophomore Hayden Elliott was just five points shy of his personal record in the three-meter dive as he was victorious with a score of 375.83. Sullivan finished second for the Nittany Lions with a score of 352.88.
Elliott continued his strong night winning the one-meter dive with a personal record of 392.48. Sullivan followed him with another personal record of 367.88.
The Nittany Lions will travel to the Big Ten Championships in West Lafayette, Ind. to begin their postseason Feb 20-24.
For updates on Penn State swimming and diving, follow the team on Instagram (@pennstateswimdive), Twitter (@PennStateSwim) and Facebook (Penn State Swimming & Diving).