Virginia Tech swept Penn State on Saturday, winning the men's meet, 175-117, and the women's tilt, 174-121.
Virginia Tech Press Release
CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. -- The Virginia Tech swimming and diving teams defeated Penn State on Saturday at Christiansburg Aquatic Center to kick off the 2016-17 home slate. The men topped the Nittany Lions, 175-117, while the women H2Okies won, 174-121.
The Hokies got the day started with victories in both the men and women 200 medley relays. Senior Jess Hespeler continued her hot start to the season with wins in the 200, 500 free and 1000 free.
Posting NCAA B-cut times in the women’s 100 back were senior Fiona Donnely and junior Klaudia Nazieblo. Nazieblo took first in the event with a 54.55 while Donnelly finished second with a 54.84.
Tech also took the top two spots in the 100 breast with senior Brandon Fiala taking first with a B-cut time of 55.20 and junior Justin Edwards placing second with a 55.73. Junior Norbert Szabo earned 27 points with first place finishes in the 200 free, and 100 and 200 fly. His 1:39.06 in the 200 free was nearly one second off of his personal best.
The H2Okie divers swept the one meter events with sophomore Ashlynn Peters posting a first place score of 315.45 and sophomore Ben Schiesl registering a 333.67. Peters later went on to also take the three meter event.
Tech returns to action on Friday, Oct. 21, at 5 p.m. for a meet with Duke, West Virginia and William and Mary at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center. The second day of action takes place on Oct. 22 at 11 a.m.
Penn State Press Release
CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. – Great swims from Shane Ryan (Havertown, Pa.) and Katie Saloky (Bloomsburg, Pa.) were not enough for Penn State against Virginia Tech, as the Niitany Lion men and women were both defeated by the Hokies, 175-117 and 174-121, respectively, in a dual meet Saturday at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center.
“It’s early,” said head coach Tim Murphy. “I would have liked to seen a little bit more progress, but Katie Saloky and Shane had some strong swims. Other than that, we got out-hustled a little bit and have a lot of work to do.”
Ryan swam the 100-yard backstroke in an NCAA event for the first time since taking bronze at the NCAA Championships in 2015, and swam an NCAA B-cut time of 44.03 seconds to win the event. Ryan also surpassed the provisional standard in the 100 freestyle, winning the event in 44.03 seconds. Additionally, Ryan led the 200 medley relay (1:30.50) and 400 free relay (3:02.21) teams to second place finishes.
On the women’s side, Saloky narrowly missed the NCAA B standard in the 50 freestyle, touching first in 23.06 seconds. Saloky was also the runner-up in the 100 butterfly, touching one-tenth of a second shy of first in 54.87, and she led the 400 freestyle relay team to victory in 3:25.12.
“Katie is doing a better job of racing and stroke, and for Shane I think it was an opportunity to get settled back in and start racing at the level he is capable of,” said Murphy. “Those were productive swims.”
Heather MacDougal (La Crescenta, Calif.) and Tommie Dillione (Newtown, Pa.) also contributed to the winning 400 free effort and finished first (51.51) and second (51.69), respectively in 100 freestyle individually. Dillione also led Penn State and finished second overall in the 200 free in 1:51.18.
The Nittany Lion women were unable to claim gold in the distance events, but placed second and third in both. Casey Francis (East Meadow, N.Y.) swam in both the 500 (4:57.82) and 1000 (10:04.43) and took third in both. Ally McHugh (Philadelphia, Pa.) out-touched Francis in the 1000 in 10:04.23, and Katelyn Sowinski (Severna Park, Md.) (4:57.22) was the runner-up in the 500. Sowinski was also the runner-up in the 200 butterfly (2:01.47).
Additionally, Emily Harris (Downington, Pa.) reached the podium twice, placing runner-up in the 200 breast (2:19.19) and third in the 100 breast (1:05.39).
Notable performances on the men’s side included JP Cervone (Sao Paulo, Brazil), who placed second in the 200 free (1:40.30) and third in the 500 freestyle (4:36.03), and freshman Kaelan Freund (Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada) who placed third in the 100 breaststroke (56.28) and fourth in the 200 breast (2:05.69).
“This meet pointed out our weaknesses, and we just need to stay focused and keep working hard, which I feel that we’re doing.”
Penn State will return to Virginia for a tri-meet against Virginia and Michigan Nov. 4-5.
