Men's and Women's Swimming Finishes First at Pitt-Bradford Relays

BRADFORD, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend men's and women's swimming team kicked off the 2014-15 season at the unique Pitt-Bradford relays, coming in first out of six teams with a combined score of 242.

The Lions came in first in seven out of 16 events on the day to win by 92 points. The host Pitt-Bradford was in second with 150 and Penn State Altoona placed third with a 132 total.

To start off the relays, the foursome of Scott Romanko (Plum, PA/Plum), Jake Ekas (Erie, PA/McDowell), Nick Roth (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) and Nick Kost (Ashburn, VA/Stone Bridge) won the 300 yard butterfly relays with a time of 2:40.95. Behrend came in first in the opening coed event, the 200 yard medley relay. Dan Simon (Harrison City, PA/Penn-Trafford), Blair Carson (Wellsboro, PA/Wellsboro), Emma Daghir (St. Marys, PA/Elk County Catholic) and Gwendolyn Lowery (Bellefonte, PA/Bellefonte) swam in a time of 1:47.43, nearly 20 seconds better than second place Altoona Lions.

Alex Isaacson (Williamsport, PA/Williamsport), Rayni Modecki (Carnegie, PA/Chartiers Valley), Allie Schneider (Erie, PA/McDowell) and Anna Rose Watterson (Baldwin, PA/Seton-La Salle) took second in the 300 yard backstroke relay, while the men's team also placed second in the same event thanks to Ekas, Carson, Manny Meinen (Bellefonte, PA/Bellefonte) and Kost (2:53.34).

In the mixed 200 freestyle relay, Ekas, Daghir, Lauren Rosato (Pittsburgh, PA/Chartiers Valley) and Romanko led Behrend into first place with a time of 1:42.13.

Natalie Klingler (Pleasantville, PA/Titusville), Isaacson, Daghir and Mia Pietropola (Pittsburgh, PA/Plum) were two seconds shy of first place in the 300 breaststroke relay. On the men's side, Romanko, Ryan Elsey (Hermitage, PA/Hickory), Carson and Eric Matteson (Corry, PA/Corry) won with the fastest time of 3:12.06.

The mixed team of Lowery, Roth, Pietropola and Simon won the 400 medley reversed relay (3:59.62), followed in second by the team of Modecki , Meinen, Matteson and Schneider (4:25.52).

Ryan Mitcheltree (Moon Township, PA/Moon), Kost, Ryan Siggins (Erie, PA/Iroquois) and Roth clocked in at 7:51.76 for second in the 800 freestyle relay.

In the women's 4x100 IM relay, Lowery, Pietropola, Kristin Owens (Erie, PA/McDowell) and Watterson claimed first by 27 seconds with a time of 4:36.00. The men's team of Simon, Kost, Carson and Elsey also won the event in 3:57.83.

The final two relays were second-place finishes for the Lions. The men's 500 freestyle crescendo relay of Romanko, Ekas, Siggins and Mitcheltree had a time of 4:41.72 for runner up. Simon, Lowery, Pietropola and Roth competed in the last mixed relay. The group touched in 3:36.11 in the 400 freestyle relay for second overall.

Behrend returns to action on Saturday at Westminster. Meet time is 1 p.m.