FREDONIA, NY – The Penn State Behrend men's swimming and diving team moved up a spot and into second place after day two of the Fredonia Blue Devil Invitational on Saturday.
The Lions passed Allegheny with 368 points to take over second, while Wheeling Jesuit remains out front with 460 points. The Gators are close in third with 336 points and SUNY Fredonia is hot on their tail with a team score of 331.
Behrend started the day with a third-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay. Ty Elder (Brentwood, CA/Heritage), Matt Myers (Cranberry Township, PA/Seneca Valley), Jake Ekas (Erie, PA/McDowell) and Nick Roth (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) had two seconds separated them from first and third with a time of 1:30.77.
Roth then took third on his own in the 200 butterfly, touching in a time of 1:59.02, while Ryan Mitcheltree (Moon Township, PA/Moon) also got himself in the Top 10 with a time of 2:04.31 for sixth overall. Roth also gave the Lions their first win of the weekend in the 500 freestyle. He clocked in at 4:48.98 and Mitcheltree was eighth (5:08.77).
Four swimmers were in the final 11 in the 100 breaststroke, led by Victor Nguyen (San Jose, CA/Evergreen Valley) who tied for fifth (1:01.13). Eric Matteson (Corry, PA/Corry) came in seventh (1:01.95) and Blair Carson (Wellsboro, PA/Wellsboro) took eighth (1:02.77). Scott Romanko (Plum, PA/Plum) was last swimmer in 11th with a time of 1:03.96.
In the 200 backstroke, Nick Kost (Ashburn, VA/Stone Bridge) set a new pool record in the finals but also did Jakub Skrzypczak from Wheeling Jesuit with a faster time. Kost finished second with a time of 1:57.35, while Skrzypczak finished in 1:48.40 for first. Shannon Steves (Erie, PA/Collegiate Academy) earned ninth for the Lions in the 200 backstroke (2:15.68).
Elder, Myers, Ryan Siggins (Erie, PA/Iroquois) and Morgan Harris (Pittsburgh, PA/Shaler) led Behrend in the 100 freestyle. Elder was fifth (49.73), Myers took 11th place (51.22), Siggins came in 13th (52.38) and Harris was next in 14th (52.63).
To end the night, the Lions grabbed 32 points by taking third in the 400 medley relay. Ekas, Nguyen, Roth and Elder put together a time of 3:40.48.
Behrend returns to action tomorrow for the final day of the Fredonia Invitational. Preliminaries begin at 10 a.m.