PENN STATE VS. VILLANOVA
- Results
- Friday, February 3rd
- Hosted by
- 25 yards
- Dual meet format
FINAL TEAM SCORES
- MEN- Penn State 186, Villanova 78
- WOMEN- Penn State 177, Villanova 86
The Penn State men and women closed out their dual meet season on a winning note after defeating Villanova on the road this past Friday. All-American Shane Ryan had one of the top performances of the day for Penn State in his lone individual event. Ryan charged to 1st place in the 200 back, clocking a 1:45.55 to finish 6 seconds ahead of the field. He also posted the fastest 50 free time of the day with his 20.21 leadoff on the 200 free relay.
On the women’s side, Niki Price pulled off a winning double for the Nittany Lions. She first won the 200 free, rolling to a 1:51.06 ahead of teammate Ally McHugh (1:52.38). She then dominated the 100 free, clocking a 51.51 to take a full 2 second lead over Villanova’s Mary Spillane (53.63).
PRESS RELEASE – PENN STATE
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams will head into the Big Ten Championships on a winning note after sweeping Villanova by scores of 186-78 and 177-86 in a dual meet Friday in the Villanova Swimming Complex.
Niki Price led the Nittany Lion women with two event wins, touching first in the 200 free (1:51.06) and the 100 free (51.51). Ally McHugh (Philadelphia, Pa.) followed Price for a 1-2 PSU finish in the 200 free (1:52.38) and won the 200 butterfly (2:03.54), also leading a 1-2 finish with Casey Francis trailing in second (2:03.96). The Lions took their most points in the 50 free with Katie Saloky leading a 1-2-3 sweep in 23.55 seconds.
Shane Ryan (Havertown, Pa.) won the 200 backstroke in 1:45.55 and now owns NCAA B-cut times in six different individual events. He led a 1-2-3 Lion sweep in the event with Liam Veregin touching second in 1:51.70 and Robbie Dickson touching third in 1:52.36. Ryan O’Neill also led a podium sweep in the 200 free in 1:41.53.
“There’s a very single focus now and that’s Big Tens,” said head coach Tim Murphy. “We’ll train tomorrow morning, we’ll lift and I told them they need to take care of themselves so they’re healthy, do their schoolwork, and keep it real simple and focus for the next couple weeks.”
The Nittany Lions continued to see success on the boards, as Hector Garcia Boissier and Mackenzie Cornell swept the men’s and women’s diving events. Garcia set a personal best in the 1-meter of 405.15 and won the 3-meter with a score 376.65. Cornell posted a score of 319.95 in the 3-meter and 273.38 in the 1-meter.
The Lions swept the distance events on both sides with freshman Amber Glenn earning top-two finishes in both women’s 1000 and 500 frees. She won the 1000 in 10:06.55 and placed second in the 500 (5:00.03) to classmate Siena Salvaggio who touched first in 4:55.88. For the Penn State men, John Nunez touched first in the 1000 free (9:41.61) and Cervone did the same in the 500 (4:40.89).
Other freshmen joining Glenn and Salvaggio on the women’s side as event winners were Heather MacDougall in the 200 IM (2:04.31), Annalee Johnson in the 200 breast (2:20.51). On the men’s side, three-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week Kaelan Freund continued his winning ways in the 200 breast (2:00.88) and Matt DiNunzio claimed the 200 fly (1:52.63).
Additional Nittany Lion men’s upperclassmen claimed gold as well, as Tomer Zamir won the 50 free (21.54), Andrew Schuehler won the 200 IM in 1:57.29 and Bob Bantley claimed the 100 free in 46.47 seconds.
Penn State will next compete in the Big Ten Championships. The women’s meet is Feb. 15-18 at Purdue, while the men’s meet is Feb. 22-25 at Ohio State.
PRESS RELEASE – VILLANOVA
Villanova, Pa. – The Villanova swimming and diving teams fell to Penn State on Friday afternoon at the Pavilion. The women’s team was defeated by a score of 177-86, and the men’s team lost 186-78.
Bridie Dunn began the meet by taking second in the women’s one meter dive, totaling a score of 239.24. In the swimming events, Darby Goodwin picked up a win in the 200-yard backstroke, finishing in a time of 2:00.91, which was more than three seconds faster than the next competitor.
Goodwin, along with Brooke Bruno, Mackenzie Niness and Taylor Wilson helped the women’s 200-yard medley relay to a second place finish in a time of 1:47.06.
On the men’s side, Harrison Rodts had a second place finish in the 1000-yard freestyle, touching the wall at 9:58.53. Jake Hoin was barely edged in the men’s 50-yard freestyle, taking second place in a time of 21.60, just .06 seconds off the top spot.
The Wildcats will return to action tomorrow for the Nova Sprint Festival against La Salle. Senior Day and Alumni Weekend events are scheduled to take place throughout the day. The Senior Day festivities will kick off the event at 11 a.m. Villanova will recognize Greg Cino, Megan Conrad, Kristin Haufler, Ian Kleinsmith, Colleen Lord, Emily Mayo, Erin Merkle, Jessie Randolph, Harrison Rodts and Mary Snyder for their outstanding contributions to the program.
During the second break of tomorrow’s diving events, a special ceremony will take place to honor former Villanova diving coach Gary Elder. Elder served as the diving coach at Villanova for 22 years and guided more than 15 student-athletes to the NCAA Championships. In 1988, Elder helped Wildcat diver Dave Echeverria to the finals of the NCAA Championships and a BIG EAST title.
While he was certainly successful in the pool, Echeverria went on to earn BIG EAST Student-Athlete of the Year honors and received an NCAA Post-Graduate scholarship. Elder was also instrumental in helping the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams to BIG EAST Championships in 1993.
For up-to-date coverage of Villanova swimming and diving, follow the program on Facebook (Villanova Swimming), Twitter (NovaSwimming), and Instagram (VU_Swimming).
