BRADFORD, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend men's and women's swimming and diving team opened up the 2016-17 season at the Pitt-Bradford relays on Saturday afternoon.
The Lions posted a combined team score of 286 for placing first in 12 out of 16 events to finish first at the relays. Penn State Altoona came in second with a score of 116, while Franciscan was third with 106 and Pitt-Bradford was fourth (92).
Behrend started out with a second-place finish in the men's 3x100 yard butterfly race, before taking first place in the mixed 200 yard medley relay. Abigail Witmer (Herndon, PA/Herndon), Blair Carson (Wellsboro, PA/Wellsboro), Nick Roth (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) and Jessica Wyckoff (Elma, NY/Iroquois) touched first in 1:51.74 to earn 14 points.
Witmer then joined Alison McClure (Loveland, OH/Milford) and Maryn Horn (Houston, TX/Jersey Village) for the top finish in the 3x100 yard backstroke relay (3:20.64). The men also took first place in this event thanks to Mark Patterson (North Hungtindon, PA/Norwin), Jeremy Brosius (Hatboro, PA/Hatboro-Horsham) and Nick Kost (Ashburn, VA/Stone Bridge) with a time of 2:52.39.
In the mixed 200 freestyle relay, Quinn Fischer (Fairview, PA/Cathedral Prep), Horn, Wyckoff and Ryan Siggins (Erie, PA/Iroquois) combined for a winning time of 1:38.69.
Carson, Ryan Elsey (Hermitage, PA/Hickory) and Kost took first in the 3x100 breaststroke relay in 3:15.65. Carson then joined Patterson, McClure, and Gwendolyn Lowery (Bellefonte, PA/Bellefonte) in the 400 yard reverse medley relay. The foursome touched in 4:06.89.
The women won the 800 free relay behind the team of Lacey Grinnen (Warren, PA/Warren), Claire Mallick (Pittsburgh, PA/Woodland Hills), Anna Rose Watterson (Baldwin, PA/Seton-La Salle) and McClure in 9:11.06.
The men followed with a win thanks to Siggins, Brady Mattson (Wilmington, DE/Delaware Military Academy), Fischer and Nathan Burak (Hopewell, PA/Hopewell) with a time of 7:55.31.
The 3x100 medley 3x100 IM relay was won by Kost, Brosius and Patterson with a best time of 2:56.75.
Wyckoff, McClure, Lowery and Horn teamed up to win the 5x100 yard freestyle relay (5:07.14) and the men proceeded to take first in the same event. Fischer, Kost, Roth and Siggins touched the wall in 4:26.79. The 500 yard freestyle relay was swam in 50-100-150-200 lengths.
Behrend won the final mixed 400 freestyle relay. Patterson, Horn, Lowery and Roth combined for a time of 3:43.35.
The Lions return to action on Saturday, Oct. 29 at Westminster. The meet begins at 1 p.m.
