Penn State Men Post Road Victory Over West Virginia; Will Roberson Shines
Ranked 25th in the College Swimming Coaches Association preseason poll, Penn State won its second straight meet to open the season with a 161-132 victory over West Virginia on Saturday.
Penn State Press Release
Top Swims:
In the 400 Medley Relay, Michael Daly, Daniel Raisanen, Victor Baganha and Will Roberson finished first with a time of 3:16.72. The Nittany Lions also finished third in the event as the team of Lachlan Byrne, Jack Hurley, Jake Houck and Zane Sutton produced a time of 3:20.96.
In the 1000 Freestyle, Sam Rennard came in first with a time of 9:24.64. Henry Radzikowski placed third with a time of 9:38.49. In the 100 Backstroke, Byrne swam a 50.81 to win the event. He also won the 200 Backstroke with a time of 1:51.67.
Tommy Hurley won with a time of 57.01 in the 100 Breaststroke, leading a Penn State sweep that included William Lulek in second (57.33) and Roberson in third (57.80). Raisanen won the 200 Breaststroke with a pace of 2:01.47.
In the 50 Freestyle, Jake Houck finished first with a time of 21.00, pacing a Nittany Lion sweep. Zane Sutton finished second (21.07) and Devon Chenot placed third (21.20). Will Roberson came in first with a time of 44.62 in the 100 Freestyle with Houck following in second with a time of 45.34.
In the 500 Freestyle, Daly won with a time of 4:34.22. Daly led a PSU sweep, placing in front of Rennard (4:37.04) and Zachary Brewer (4:40.46). In the 100 Yard Butterfly, Baganha finished with a winning time of 47.36.
Diving:
In the 1-meter dive, Logan Krabbe came in first with a score of 288.23. He was also Penn State’s top performer in the 3-meter dive (286.13).
West Virginia Press Release
The West Virginia University men’s swimming and diving team continued their 2021-22 season with a dual-meet against Penn State on Saturday. The Mountaineers fell to the Nittany Lions, 161-101, at the Aquatic Center at Mylan Park.
WVU captured five total victories on the afternoon, as fifth-year David Dixon led the way with two wins, both individual. Fifth-year Max Gustafson collected one individual victory, while freshman Conner McBeth, junior Robert Zemturis, freshman Braden Osborn and junior David Snider all grabbed a relay win. Senior Nick Cover took the 3-meter diving and also secured an NCAA Zone-qualifying score of 300.68 on platform.
“I felt like we did a really good job of racing today,” coach Vic Riggs said. “Our finishes were much better than they were at the WV State Games. This meet provided quality competition, and overall, I thought the men swam well today. We had a few swims that we know we need to improve on before the WVU Invite.”
On springboard, the Mountaineers captured the top two spots on 3-meter as Cover took first place with a score of 299.03, followed by junior Owen Johns in second with a score of 287.33. On 1-meter, Cover took second with a 282.38, while Johns placed third and scored a 278.63. Men’s and women’s diving used towers as an exhibition this weekend, where Cover earned an NCAA Zones-qualifying score of 300.83.
“We took a slower, but more intensive approach to this competition,” diving coach Karla Helder said. “We were able to compete better quality dives, although they were a less degree of difficulty, and achieve virtually the same scoring position to, not only add depth to the final score, but to our own future diving lists.”
Friday’s meet opened with the 400-yard medley relay. The Mountaineer team comprised of sophomore Justin Heimes, fifth-years Fausto Huerta, Dixon and Gustafson took second place with a time of 3:19.69.
WVU’s first victory of the meet came after Gustafson finished first in the 200 free with a time of 1:41.34. Sophomore Roanoke Shirk followed Gustafson and touched with a time of 1:24.32 to take third.
The Mountaineer men had a 2-3-4 finish in the 100 backstroke, Heimes led the way for West Virginia touching in 50.83. Senior Josh Harlan followed Heimes to finish third (51.88), with freshman Zhenya Ingram in fourth (52.08). Dixon claimed the 200 butterfly for the second time this season and notching a seasons best time of 1:46.96.
Then, Gustafson finished third in the 100 free (46.07), followed by Heimes’ second-place finish in the 200 back (1:52.32). WVU recorded a second and third-place finish in the 200 breaststoke with sophomore Joe Schaefer leading the way (2:08.01), and junior Jonathan Bennett took third (2:11.07).
WVU’s momentum continued into the 100 fly as Dixon took second (49.12), Gustafson followed behind in third (49.19) and Snider finished fourth (60.67).
Next came three two wins for the Mountaineers, the first from Dixon as he led the way in a WVU sweep of the 200 IM. Dixon finished with a season best time of 1:52.69, followed by Harlan (1:54.30), freshman Jake Young (1:56.21), junior Jack Saum (1:58.17) and Bennett (1:59.57).
The meet concluded with WVU’s fifth victory of the evening in the 200 free relay. McBeth, Zemturis, Osborn and Snider took first with a 1:24.28 showing. In second place was another West Virginia team comprised of sophomore Dylan Melin, Schaefer, sophomore Logan McFadden and Ingram, tallying a time of 1:27.46.
Saturday’s meet marked the second of the two-day competition between WVU and Penn State. On Friday night, the Mountaineer women dropped their dual contest against the Nittany Lions, 107-181. WVU captured five victories on the night, including freshman Sarah Krusinski’s NCAA Zones-qualifying score on 1-meter.