The Penn State Lion men edged out the Yale Bulldogs by just two points (94-92), while the Penn State women topped Yale 111 – 74 during the first day of competition in a multi-day duel at the Werblin Recreation Center, hosted by Rutgers University.
The Rutgers A team took first with an NCAA B cut to kick off the meet in the Women’s 400 Medley Relay (3:44.84). Penn State followed up for second in another NCAA B cut of 3:45.31, and Penn State’s B team touched just behind for third in 3:46.74. The Bulldogs took the men’s relay, swimming a 3:18.53 just ahead of the Penn State A team (3:19.88).
Penn State claimed a 1-2-3-4 sweep in the 200 Free, with sophomore Alyson Ackman taking first in 1:49.30. Her teammate Caitlyn Karr took second (1:50.14) ahead of freshman Lion Megan Wujciak (1:50.21). On the men’s side, Penn State’s Robert Bantley (1:40.04) touched just ahead of freshman teammate Matthew Stasiunas (1:40.56) for another Penn State sweep. Yale’s Brian Hogan was just one tenth of a second behind for third in 1:40.63.
Rutgers’ Joanna Wu claimed a win in the 100 Back (55.80) ahead of a 2-3-4-5 Penn State finish led by sophomore Casey Fazio (56.55). Her teammate Anna Farnsworth touched third in 57.20. Lion junior Nate Savoy took his first event win of the meet with a 48.65 in the 100 Back ahead of Yale teammates Shawn Nee (50.17) and Rob Harder (50.28).
Rutgers teammates Greta Leberfinger (1:03.41) and Rachel Stoddard (1:03.94) touched first and second in the 100 Breast ahead of Penn State’s Melissa Rodriguez (1:04.24). Bulldog senior Andrew Heymann took the 100 Breast on the men’s side (56.33) ahead of Penn State’s Andrew Schuehler (57.18) and Yale’s Derek Kao (57.42).
Penn State took another sweep in the women’s 200 Fly, with freshman Katelyn Sowinski (1:59.86) and sophomore Katie Rowe (2:01.08) touching first and second, respectively. Rutgers’ Morgan Pfaff took third in 2:03.58. Yale responded in the men’s 200 Fly with a 1-2 finish by senior Alwin Firmansyah in an NCAA B cut (1:47.92) and sophomore Alex Schultz (1:51.08). Penn State’s Kyle Madley was third in 1:52.10.
The Penn State Lions claimed another sweep in the women’s 50 Free, with junior duo Katelyn Miller (23.40) and Carolyn Fittin (23.54) taking the top two spots. Their teammate Kaitlin Jones followed up for third in 23.78. On the men’s side, Penn State’s Shane Ryan took the top spot in 20.49, just ahead of Yale Bulldog Aaron Greenberg (20.76). His teammate Victor Zhang touched just one tenth of a second behind for third in 20.86.
Penn State took another event win in the women’s 200 IM, with sophomore Haley Sinatro touching first in 2:04.26. Rutgers’ Morgan Pfaff took second in 2:04.54 ahead of her teammate Greta Leberfinger (2:07.52). On the men’s side, Penn State’s Nate Savoy took his second event win of the meet with a first-place swim in 1:50.51. Yale teammates Andrew Heymann (1:51.50) and Jonathan Rutter (1:53.27) took second and third, respectively.
Penn State took a 1-2-3 sweep in the women’s 1000 Free, with junior Megan Silverling taking first in 9:58.76. Her teammates Katelyn Sowinski (10:04.20) and Casey Francis (10:05.10) followed up for second and third, respectively. The Yale Bulldogs swept the men’s event, with freshman Kei Hyogo touching first in 9:08.64. His teammates Brian Hogan (9:14.57) and Ben Lerude (9:22.92) taking second and third.
The Penn State women and men finished off the first day of competition with wins in the 200 Free Relay, swimming a 1:33.30 and 1:21.66, respectively.
Click here to read full results, and stay tuned for results throughout the rest of the competition.