ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend men's swimming and diving team captured their 12th straight Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Championship on Saturday night at the Junker Center.
The Lions won four more events and broke 13 records on the final day to win the conference title by 340 points. Behrend totaled 744 points and second-place Pitt-Bradford tallied 404. Cabrini placed third (395) and Alfred State came in fourth (358). Penn State Altoona registered a score of 166 for fifth.
Mark Patterson (North Huntingdon, PA/Norwin) repeats as AMCC Swimmer of the Year. In addition to all weekend, Patterson shined on the final day, being the only swimmer at the championships to hit an NCAA "B" cut time in the 200 backstroke. He won the event in 1:50.31 to set a new pool and AMCC meet record. Liam Watterson (Brentwood, PA/Baldwin) was runner up with a time of 1:56.81.
In the 200 breaststroke, Noah Babik (Penn Township, PA/Penn Trafford) broke four records en route to becoming the individual champion. He set a new team, pool, AMCC meet and conference record in 2:07.84. Ryan Elsey (Hermitage, PA/Hickory) came in second place five seconds later in 2:12.57.
Brady Mattson (Wilmington, DE/Delaware Military Academy) repeats as the 1650 freestyle champion with a new team, AMCC meet and conference record time of 16:45.20. On his way to the victory for the mile, he broke the team, AMCC meet and conference record in the 1000 with a time of 9:59.61 for a total of six records in one event. He took over 30 seconds off his winning time from last season. David Ewing (South Fayette, PA/South Fayette) and Jacob Schmidt (Erie, PA/Cathedral Prep) placed third and fourth, respectively.
In the 100 freestyle, the Lions won third through sixth. Alex Croll (Honolulu, HI/Roosevelt) had the fastest time for Behrend in 48.10, followed by Ryan Siggins (Erie, PA/Iroquois) in fourth (48.31) and Quinn Fischer (Fairview, PA/Cathedral Prep) in fifth (48.67). Cole Dombrosky (Mount Pleasant, PA/Mount Pleasant) rounded out the winners in sixth (48.86).
In the last individual event of the championships, Steven Owens (Erie, PA/McDowell) won the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:56.34 before making way for the 400 free relay. In the relay, the Lions led up until the final lap. The Panthers won in 3:09.14 and Behrend touched in 3:09.16 for second place thanks to the team of Patterson, Siggins, Fischer, and Croll.