ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend men's swimming and diving team moved into first place with day two of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Championships in the books on Thursday evening at the Junker Center Pool.
The Lions have accumulated 285 points through two days of competition. Cabrini is second with 152 points, followed by Pitt-Bradford with 147 for third. Alfred State is in fourth (110) and Penn State Altoona is fifth (65).
In the 500 freestyle, the Lions had six of the top eight swimmers in the finals. Mark Patterson set four records on the way to repeating as champion in the 500 free. He touched in a time of 4:38.60 to break the team, pool, AMCC meet and conference record. Jacob Schmidt (Erie, PA/Cathedral Prep) placed second in 4:47.75, while Brady Mattson (Wilmington, DE/Delaware Military Academy) grabbed fourth (4:51.07). Freshman David Ewing (South Fayette, PA/South Fayette) set a new personal record with at time of 4:55.78.
The men's 200 freestyle relay placed second to start the finals on Thursday night. Quinn Fischer (Fairview, PA/Cathedral Prep), Alex Croll (Honolulu, HI/Roosevelt), Justin Spence (Houston, TX/Cy-Fair) and Ryan Siggins (Erie, PA/Iroquois) combined for a time of 1:26.71, falling short of the title by 1.54 seconds.
Behrend swept the 200 IM starting with second place. Liam Watterson (Brentwood, PA/Baldwin) had the top time for the Lions in 2:00.07 for runner up. Steven Owens (Erie, PA/McDowell) was a close third in 2:00.11, while Noah Babik (Penn Township, PA/Penn Trafford) grabbed fourth place in 2:00.59.
Ryan Elsey (Hermitage, PA/Hickory) and Nathan Wagner (Ypsilani, MI/Lincoln) finished fifth and sixth, respectively. Elsey touched in 2:02.17 and Wagner clock in at 2:06.92.
In the 50 freestyle, Fischer, Croll and Spence finished in the top six. Fischer came in third with a time of 21.70 and Croll was fourth (22.12). Spence took sixth in 22.74.
The final 400 medley relay belonged to the Lions. Patterson, Babik, Owens, and Croll clocked in at 3:30.21 for first place and a new pool record.
The Lions return to action tomorrow for day three of the championships, beginning at 10 a.m.