Lions Capture Fredonia Blue Devil Invitational

FREDONIA, NY – The Penn State Behrend men's swimming and diving team won the Fredonia Blue Devil Invitational with a team score of 825.5 through three days of competition, beating nine teams with the final rounds on Sunday.

The Lions outlast second-place team Allegheny by 333 points (495) to win the invitational for the first time since 2012-13. John Carroll was a close third to the Gators with 492.5.

Mark Patterson (North Huntingdon, PA/Norwin) and Liam Watterson (Brentwood, PA/Baldwin) were the first two to touch the wall in the 200 backstroke. Patterson won with a time of 1:53.11 and Watterson was runner up in 1:58.57.

Brady Mattson (Wilmington, DE/Delaware Military Academy) broke the program record in the 1650 free, coming in second place with a new Behrend time of 16:55.05. David Ewing (South Fayette, PA/South Fayette) was third overall in 17:09.87 and Jacob Schmidt (Erie, PA/Cathedral Prep) came in fourth in 17:13.81.

Michael Bauer (Northampton, PA/Northampton), Alex Croll (Honolulu, HI/Roosevelt) and Ryan Siggins (Erie, PA/Iroquois) placed third, fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 100 freestyle. Bauer led with a time of 47.28, Croll tallied 48.74 and Siggins swam 48.74.

Noah Babik (Penn Township, PA/Penn Trafford) led Behrend in the 200 breaststroke. He placed third in 2:10.38 and Ryan Elsey (Hermitage, PA/Hickory) earned seventh overall in 2:15.77.

In the 200 butterfly, Steven Owens (Erie, PA/McDowell) was less than two seconds short of winning, taking second place in 1:57.95. Nathan Wagner (Ypsilanti, MI/Lincoln) took 10^th in the 200 butterfly in 2:08.01.

The icing on the cake was the 400 free relay win by Bauer, Siggins, Croll and Patterson. The foursome won with a time of 3:11.39.

The Lions return to action on Saturday, January 13 at Washington & Jefferson. Meet time is 1 p.m.