Day 1 Sweeps Lead Pitt Women to Second Straight Win over Penn State
Three podium sweeps on Day 1 and three total wins from Avery Kudlac led Pitt to a 248-105 drubbing of Penn State. It’s the second consecutive win for the Panthers over their in-state rival, the first time that has happened since 1984-86.
Penn State won the men’s meet, a somewhat closer 211-142.
Pitt’s women swept all four relays in the two-day meet in State College, with Kudlac and Claire Jansen on all four squads. Sydney Gring swam fly on both medleys and anchored the 200 free relay, while Sophie Yendell took part in both winning freestyle relays.
Kudlac won two individual races on the opening day. She went 50.94 to outtouch Gring by .07 in the 100 free. Two events later, her 53.50 in the 100 butterfly bested Yendell and Gring. Kudlac added a winning time of 1:49.96 to edge Penn State’s Catherine Meisner by .08 in the 200 free on Saturday.
Gring got to the wall first on Saturday in the 200 individual medley (2:03.18) and the 200 fly (2:02.19).
Kudlac’s 100 fly win on Friday was the third podium sweep by the Panthers to build an unassailable lead. Jessie Strong went 1:03.58 to win the 100 breaststroke in a sweep, and the Panthers would go on to take the top three spots in the 200 breast on Saturday behind Strong’s 2:18.91. Jansen went 1:59.62 in the 200 backstroke to orchestrate a top-three sweep. She won the 100 back on Saturday in 55.14, with teammate Mary Clarke second in both.
Kimmy Shannon finished second in the 500 free, then won the 400 IM, both on Day 1. Anna Wiechertjes pulled a bit of a surprise in the 50 free to win in 23.52, ahead of Yendell and Jansen. Mariana Osorio Mendoza swept both diving events for Pitt.
Penn State’s lone wins came from Morgan Moore, who went 4:54.63 in the 500 free to open the meet and 10:14.67 to lead teammate Morgan Jenny to the wall in the 1,000. Moore was also third in the 200 fly, Jenny third in the 500. Meisner added a third place in the 100 free to her 200 free runner-up result, and sister Julia Meisner was the 200 fly runner-up.
The men’s race was considerably closer. The 200 free relay was indicative: Pitt’s A squad (Eli Hobson, Julian Koch, Donat Fabian, Guy Frimis) beat Penn State’s A by .04 for the win, then Pitt’s B squad was .08 up on Penn State’s B by .08. But the Nittany Lions possessed the superior depth to win the days.
Penn State began Day 2 strong by sweeping the 1,000 free. Eduardo Cisternas doubled up on his 500 free win by taking the longer race, in a second 1-2 with Ryan Anselm. Cisternas returned to win the 200 free in 1:38.61 ahead of teammate Tylor Kim, who had won the 100 free.
Alex Karahalis outdueled Pitt’s Max Matteazzi by a tenth in the 200 IM, winning in 1:48.23 to avenge Matteazzi’s win in Friday’s 400 IM. He also finished second to teammate Sam Folger in the 200 fly. Kim, Cooper Morley, Matthew Bittner and Cisternas capped the day by winning the 400 free relay by exactly two seconds.
Mariano Lazzerini swept breaststroke for Penn State, getting the win in the 200 over Matteazzi. Morley won the 100 back ahead of teammate Jack Harvey and the 100 fly ahead of Victor Baganha. He led off both medley relay wins, with Bittner swimming fly and Kim anchoring.
Pitt had its share of wins on the opening day. Marcin Goraj bested Harvey to win the 200 back, then Matteazzi claimed the 400 IM. Pitt’s only swimming win on Day 2 came via Fabian in the 50. Noah Bernard swept diving.