Rodriguez Hits Top-5 Time In 200 Breast As Penn State, Virginia Tech Split

Melissa Rodriguez popped off the 3rd-fastest 200 breast time in the NCAA this year as the Penn State women won a home dual against Virginia Tech. The H2Okie men picked up a win of their own.

Full results

Women’s Meet

A close women’s matchup saw the Nittany Lions take 10 of 16 events to win over visiting Virginia Tech. Key to that were Penn State wins in both relays.

The Nittany Lions rolled away with the 200 medley win, going 1:41.21. Kaitlin Saloky crushed the fly leg in 23.90 to open up a big lead for Penn State, and Kaitlin Jones was uncatchable, anchoring in 22.56.

The closing 400 free relay went to Penn State by over three seconds. Katina Kuhn‘s 50.64 anchor leg iced things, and Jones (50.91) and Alyson Ackman (50.95) were also quick as the team went 3:24.17.

Senior Melissa Rodriguez swept the breaststrokes, putting up the nation’s third-fastest 200 breast in the process. Her 2:13.81 topped Virginia Tech’s Weronika Paluszek (2:14.84) for that win, and Rodriguez was also 1:02.75 in the 100.

Saloky and Jones also came up with big wins for Penn State. Saloky won the 50 free in 23.14 with Jones (23.36) in tow, and Jones came back to win the 100 free with a 50.67.

Virginia Tech’s top threat was sophomore Klaudia Nazieblo, who won the 200 back and 200 fly. She was 1:59.11 beating Katie Rowe in the fly, plus 1:59.14 to win the backstroke. That 200 fly time ranks #5 in the NCAA this season.

Men’s Meet

Brandon Fiala led the H2Okies to a road win on the men’s side, taking 3 individual events himself.

Fiala swam an interesting 100 breast/50 free double early in the meet, winning both. His 100 breast was 56.62, touching out Penn State’s Andrew Schuehler by two tenths, and just two events later, he went 20.87 to beat Matt Grillo for the 50 free title.

Late in the meet, Fiala went 1:50.91 to win the 200 IM in a landslide.

Michal Szuba, Lucas Bureau and Robert Owen all won two individual events apiece for a dominant Virginia Tech squad.

Szuba swept the distance races (9:17.38 in the 1000, 4:29.44 in the 500), Bureau the 100 free (45.33) and 100 fly (49.58), and Owen the backstrokes (50.66 in the 100, 1:48.14 in the 200).

Penn State was led by diver Hector Garcia, who swept both diving boards. Ryan O’Neill denied Bureau a third win, taking the 200 free in 1:39.40. A few events later, Penn State went 1-2 in the 200 fly with Rory Lewis (1:49.24) leading the way.

The final scores: on the men’s side, Virginia Tech triumphed 178.5-118.5, while the Penn State women won 183-114.