Lions Take Second at Fredonia Blue Devil Invitational; Kost Breaks 400 IM Record

FREDONIA, NY – The Penn State Behrend men's swimming and diving team placed second out of eight teams with a score of 666 on the final day of the Fredonia Blue Devil Invitational.

Wheeling Jesuit remained out front to win with a total of 752 to beat out the Lions. The host SUNY Fredonia came in third (576) and Allegheny finished five points behind for fourth (571).

Nick Kost (Ashburn, VA/Stone Bridge) dropped 7.7 second from the preliminaries to win the 400 IM in a new school and AMCC record time of 4:11.94. Ryan Elsey (Hermitage, PA/Hickory) and Lloyd Koester (Edinboro, PA/General McLane) rounded out the Top 8 in the finals. Elsey was seventh (4:33.33) and Koester was eighth (4:51.86).

In the 200 freestyle, Nick Roth (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) won with a time of 1:46.11. Matt Myers (Cranberry Township, PA/Seneca Valley) also earned points, placing seventh in 1:52.90 while Ryan Siggins (Erie, PA/Iroquois) finished 13th (1:55.00).

Jake Ekas (Erie, PA/McDowell) led four Lions in the 100 butterfly. He took eighth overall with a time of 55.08. Scott Romanko (Plum, PA/Plum) was a close ninth (55.76), Morgan Harris (Pittsburgh, PA/Shaler) took 12th (57.43) and Manny Meinen (Bellefonte, PA/Bellefonte) came in 15th (57.95).

Ekas also paced Behrend in the 100 backstroke, finishing third in 54.73. Meinen was second on the team and eighth overall in 1:01.16, while Harris 10th and Shannon Steves (Erie, PA/Collegiate Academy) was 13th.

Trying to get past Wheeling Jesuit, the Lions placed five swimmers in the 200 breaststroke finals. Eric Matteson (Corry, PA/Corry) led the pack for fourth with a time of 2:14.76. He edged Victor Nguyen (San Jose, CA/Evergreen Valley) who was fifth in 2:15.28. Blair Carson (Wellsboro, PA/Wellsboro) was third on the squad and seventh overall (2:18.21) and Elsey took ninth (2:19.23). Romanko rounded out the top five in 2:21.80 for 11th place.

In the final 400 freestyle relay, Ty Elder (Brentwood, CA/Heritage), Myers, Ekas and Roth put together a time of 3:18.90 for third place.

Behrend returns to action on Saturday against Penn State Altoona. Meet begins at 1 p.m.