UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's swimming & diving team dominated Villanova, 180-79, Friday evening at McCoy Natatorium. The Nittany Lions finished the meet with seven 1-2-3 sweeps and juniors Gabe Castano and Hayden Harlow combined for two event wins each.
Top Swims
Senior captain Liam Veregin secured a win for the Nittany Lions after placing first in the 100 back (48.48), and assisted in wins of both the 200 medley relay and 200 free relay. His co-captain, Austin Wilson, also added to the final score with two second-place finishes in the 50 free (21.07) and 200 back (1:51.51). Wilson was also a member of the winning 200 free relay team who set a new pool record.
Castano and Harlow led the team with two wins each. Castano won both the 50 free - posting an NCAA B-Cut time of 19.64 - and the 100 free (44.05). Teammate Harlow clinched first with a career-best time in the 100 breast (54.74) and added a win in the 200 IM with a time of 1:47.88.
Both Zac Zwijacz and Sam Rennard posted two top-three finishes for the Nittany Lions. Zwijacz won the 200 free (1:42.20) and placed third in the 200 fly (1:56.87). Rennard secured first with a career-best time in the 1000 free (9:28.34) and finished third in the 500 free with a time of 4:41.74.
Nittany Lion Relays
To start out the meet, Penn State swept the 200 medley relay with the team of William Roberson, Brad Johnson, Veregin, and Castano clinching first with a new pool record time of1:27.90.
Although the Nittany Lions swam the 200 free relay as an exhibition, they posted the top three times, and the winning team of Castano, Veregin, Roberson, and Wilson set a pool record witha final time of 1:19.72.
Top Dives
The Nittany Lions swept the 1-meter where freshman Kevin Sullivan and junior Bryce Hoch both finished with career-bests and NCAA Zone qualifying scores. Sullivan secured first with a score of 310.43 and Hoch was right behind him placing second with a final score of 308.70.
Jonah Cey earned two top-three finishes after placing second in the 3-meter (311.03) and third in the 1-meter scoring 282.00.
Event Winners
1000 free - Sam Rennard (9:28.34)
200 free - Zac Zwijacz(1:42.20)
100 back - Liam Veregin(48.48)
100 breast - Hayden Harlow (54.74)
200 fly - Jacob Deckman (1:52.56)
50 free - Gabe Castano (19.64)
200 breast - Daniel Raisanen (2:01.84)
100 free - Gabe Castano(44.05)
500 free - Michael Daly(4:27.73)
100 fly - Juliusz Gosieniecki (49.12)
200 IM - Hayden Harlow (1:47.88)
Next Up
The men's team will travel to Bloomington, Indiana to competein the Big Ten Championships Wednesday, Feb. 26 - Saturday, Feb. 29.
Check GoPSUSports.comfor coverage of the Penn State swimming and diving teams during the season.Follow the team on Twitter at @PennStateSWIM, Instagram at @PennStateSWIMDIVE and on Facebook at facebook.com/pennstateswimminganddiving.