This weekend, the Penn State women, Penn State men, and Rutgers women traveled to New Haven, Connecticut to take on the Yale swimming and diving teams.
The Yale men took a 189-153 victory over Penn State, while their women’s team beat out Rutgers 231-122. The Penn State women outscored both Yale (196-157) and Rutgers (242-111).
Women’s Meet
Penn State and Yale split the relays. Penn State’s relay team of Alyson Ackman, Melissa Rodriguez, Haley Sinatro, and Kaitlin Jones took the win in the 400 medley in a pool record 3:44.14, and their 200 medley team of Allie Pennetti, Sinatro, Kaitlin Saloky, and Ackman won the 200 medley in 1:42.96.
The Yale relay teams won both free relays. Their 200 free relay team of Bella Hindley, Cassidy Richards, Amy Zhao, and Kina Zhou won the event in a pool record 1:32.74. Their 400 free relay of Zhou, Richards, Olivia Jameson, and Hindley grabbed another win and pool record with 3:23.20.
Penn State’s Katelyn Sowinski grabbed two individual wins for the Nittany Lions, winning the 200 fly in 2:00.45. She also took the title in the 500 free, clocking 4:52.89.
Yale’s Zhou swept the sprint free events with a 23.51 in the 50 and a 50.77 in the 100 free.
Rutgers’s Joanna Wu defended her backstroke titles from this meet last year, winning the 100 back in 55.72 and the 200 in 1:59.71, just missing the NCAA B cut of 1:59.19.
Monika Gonzalez Hermosillo of Penn State won both IM events, taking the 200 in 2:03.61 and just outswimming Hindley’s 2:03.79. Gonzalez Hermosillo’s 400 IM-winning time was 4:22.84.
Casey Francis of Penn State won the 1000 free in 9:56.86, just ahead of Yale’s Eva Fabian‘s 9:56.97. Francis’s final 50, a 27.42, gave her the burst of finishing speed to take the event.
The 100 fly went to Rutgers’s Francesca Stoppa, who finished in 55.92, the only swimmer under 56.
Jones nabbed an individual win for Penn State in the 200 free with 1:49.64, just edging out Hindley’s 1:49.70.
Penn State’s Rodriguez just missed the 2:15.99 NCAA B cut in the 200 breast, clocking 2:16.10.
Sinatro took the win in the 100 breast, matching the NCAA B cut of 1:02.49.
Yale’s Lilybet MacRae won the 3 meter diving event with a pool record 314.05 points, while Rutgers’s Addison Walkowiak won the 1 meter event with 294.95 points.
Men’s Meet
Yale took the win in the both medley relays and the 200 free relay, and they would have won the 400 free relay if their team hadn’t been marked ‘exhibition.’ Their 400 medley relay team of Shawn Nee, Derek Kao, Scott Bole, and Victor Zhang finished in 3:21.88; their 200 free relay of Oscar Miao, Zhang, Kao, and Bole won in 1:23.44; and their 200 free relay of Nee, Alex Goss, Zhang, and Miao edged out Penn State’s 1:32.53 with 1:32.48.
Penn State’s Matthew Stasiunas, Tomer Zamir, Matt Grillo, and Zach Kantz won the 400 free relay in 3:03.63, but the Yale exhibition team clocked 3:02.90.
Yale’s Brian Hogan won all three of his individual events, swimming 1:39.91 in the 200 free, 9:14.19 in the 1000, and 4:29.80 in the 500.
Nee of Yale outswam Penn State’s Zamir in the 100 back, clocking 50.09 to Zamir’s 50.33. Zamir took the win in the 100 fly (51.02) later on in the meet.
Yale swimmers grabbed first and second in the 100 breast, with Kao swimming 56.87 and Jonathan Rutter swimming 57.66. Rutter came back to win the 200 IM in 1:52.95.
Yale also grabbed first and second in the 50 free, where Miao swam 21.02 and Zhang clocked 21.05. Zhang grabbed first in the 100 free with 45.48.
The Yale swimmers took another double in the 200 back, where Alex Schultz won in 1:51.05, and Kevin Stang finished second in 1:52.05.
Yale’s Kei Hyogo won the 200 fly in 1:51.44.
Penn State took a win in the 200 breaststroke, with Gunther Cassell‘s 2:06.36. They also won top points in the 400 IM from Nathaniel Bledsoe‘s 4:05.79.
Penn State grabbed major diving points in both events. In the one meter event, Nittany Lion Connor Scanlon grabbed first with 306.20, followed by his teammates Hector Garcia (301.55), and Jack Crow (287.00). Garcia took the three meter event with 396.70, followed by Scanlon (328.10) and Crow (288.35).
With the addition of a great assistant from a top 5 program like Virginia, Yale should be winning Ivys in no time, and beating B1G bottom dwellers like Penn State… Maybe it just takes longer than expected to climb the ladder in the Ivy League?!?