Lions Move Into First Place at Blue Devil Invite

FREDONIA, NY – The Penn State Behrend men's swimming and diving team hold a slight two-point lead after day two of the Blue Devil Invite hosted by Fredonia State on Saturday.

The Lions moved into first place with 377 points and edging John Carroll, who has 375 points. Behrend was in second place heading into today's competition. The Blue Devils are a close third with 370, making tomorrow's final rounds interesting.

Mark Patterson (North Huntingdon, PA/Norwin) was the lone individual winner on the day for Behrend. He touched first in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:51.97, shaving two and a half seconds off his preliminary mark. Nick Kost (Ashburn, VA/Stone Bridge) was third in the 200 backstroke in 1:58.89.

The Lions had three swimmers in the "A" final for the 500 free. Nick Roth (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) was runner up in 4:49.53, while Ryan Siggins (Erie, PA/Iroquois) came in fourth (4:53.49) and Brady Mattson (Wilmington, DE/Delaware Military Academy) was eighth (5:17.46).

Mattson then paced Behrend in the 200 butterfly. He finished sixth with a time of 2:05.33 and Keith Powell (Bethel Park, PA/Bethel Park) was two tenths of a second behind in 2:05.35 for seventh.

In the 100 breaststroke, Blair Carson (Wellsboro, PA/Wellsboro) had the sixth-best time of 1:00.88 and Ryan Elsey (Hermitage, PA/Hickory) was 10th in 1:02.58.

Siggins and Quinn Fischer (Fairview, PA/Cathedral Prep) were in the "A" finals for the 100 freestyle. Siggins tallied a third-place finish (49.07) and Fischer was eighth in 51.05.

In the relays, Patterson, Roth, Siggins and Dillon Scheidemantle (Mars, PA/Pine-Richland) tallied a fourth-place finish in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:28.92. The final relay of the night consisted of Kost, Carson, Fischer and Jeremy Brosius (Hatboro, PA/Hatboro-Horsham) competing in the 200 medley relay and placing seventh (1:40.77).

The Lions finish the three-day invite tomorrow with the prelims at 10 a.m. and finals at 5 p.m.