FREDONIA, NY – Dan Simon (Harrison City, PA/Penn-Trafford) won the 100 freestyle and swam an NCAA "B" cut time in 100 backstroke of the 400 medley relay to lead Penn State Behrend men's swimming and diving team at the Fredonia State Blue Devil Invitational on Saturday.
The Lions moved up from fourth to third place after day two of the invitational, earning 264.5 points. They trail Fredonia State and Wheel Jesuit going into the final day of competition.
Simon was the winner in the 100 freestyle with a time of 47.40, before setting a pool record in an NCAA qualifying time of 49.88 in the opening leg of the 400 medley relay. The relay also consisted of Victor Nguyen (San Jose, CA/Evergreen Valley), Nick Roth (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) and Ty Elder (Brentwood, CA/Heritage). As a team, they took second with a time of 3:34.52.
Roth was the top swimmer for Behrend in the 200 butterfly and the 500 freestyle. He took fourth in the 200 butterfly (2:00.48) and then swam 4:56.91 in the 500 freestyle for seventh overall. Ryan Mitcheltree (Moon Township, PA/Moon) was second in those events for the Lions, placing 10th in the butterfly (2:06.34) and 11th in the 500 (5:01.11).
Nick Kost (Ashburn, VA/Stone Bridge) shaved five seconds off his preliminary time in the 200 backstroke to finish runner up in 1:48.83.
Nguyen also was first on the team and fifth overall in the 100 breaststroke in 1:01.05 and Eric Matteson (Corry, PA/Corry) followed in 11th place (1:04.11).
In the 100 freestyle, Steve Torre (South Fayette, PA/South Fayette) nearly cracked the Top Ten with a time of 50.02 for 12th place.
The Lions return to action tomorrow for the final day of the invitational. Prelims begin at 10 a.m. followed by finals at 4 p.m.
