Pittsburgh, Pa. – Penn State men's swimming and diving lost Pitt, 171-180, and Notre Dame, 125-226, on the road at Trees Pool in their second meet of the season.
"Very challenging weekend," head coach Tim Murphy said. "A lot of tough and competitive racing and diving from both the men and women's teams. Second meet of the season with a number of building blocks to learn from and technical skills we have to improve. Tough, close losses that hurt, but it's early in our season."
Friday: Day One
Freshmen Eduardo Cisternas and Mariano Lazzerini as well as senior Will Lulek and sophomore Victor Baganha highlighted Friday's individual competition with several top-three finishes in distance and sprint events.
Cisternas, touching second (4:28.84), led freshman Andrew Christensen to fourth (4:31.97) in the 500 Free.
Penn State's breaststroke squad earned third and fourth place in their 100 with senior Raisanen (55.74) following Lazzerini (54.74) to the wall.
Baganha (44.34) swam to second in the 100 free while junior Tommy Hurley took fourth (45.12).
As day one's action concluded, Will Lulek represented the Nittany Lions with a sub-four minute 400 IM (3:59.55), placing him second as junior Calvin Wise finished fourth (4:03.01).
Saturday: Day Two
Sophomores Baganha and Samuel Folger commanded the spotlight on day two, earning both of Penn State's victories.
Baganha started Saturday's competition in triumphant style with a blistering 20.03 50 Free, winning the event by 0.06 seconds.
Folger kept the Nittany Lions' momentum up claiming gold in the 200 Fly (1:47.52), swimming nearly a second faster than the time he posted two weeks ago against Boston and Navy.
As the day continued, Lazzerini and Raisanen returned to the water to take second (2:01.36) and third in the 200 Breast (2:01.45).
And in a repeat finish from the 500 Free a day earlier, Eduardo Cisternas (9:18.71) and Andrew Christensen (9:26.95) swam to second and fourth in the 1000 Free.
Relays (Combined)
The Nittany Lions earned a pair of second places on Friday. Freshman Mariano Lazzerini, Hurley, senior Lachlan Byrne and sophomore Victor Baganha touched for the 200 Free runner-up position in 1:21.39 after Byrne, senior Daniel Raisanen, Baganha and Hurley opened the meet with a 3:15.36 in the 400 Medley.
Saturday morning, Byrne, Lazzerini, Baganha and Hurley returned to Trees pool taking third in the 200 Medley (1:29.19) while Hurley, Byrne, freshman Ryan McNutt and Baganha placed second in the 400 Free (2:59.96).
Diving (Combined)
On the boards, freshman Hayden Elliott led the Nittany Lions with a fourth place in the 1-Meter (325.00) and a third place in the 3-Meter (362.90).
Event Winners:
50 Free – Victor Baganha (20.03)
200 Fly – Samuel Folger (1:47.52)
Up Next:
The Nittany Lions return to University Park and welcome West Virginia at their first home meet of the season on Friday, November 4th.
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