No. 17 Men’s swimming and diving squeeks past Penn State while women drop two over weekend

A close finish of a mere 0.77 seconds was all the No. 17 Pitt men’s swimming and diving… A close finish of a mere 0.77 seconds was all the No. 17 Pitt men’s swimming and diving team needed for its victory Saturday over host Penn State.

Down by two points going into the final event of the dual meet, the 200-yard freestyle relay team of Darryl Washington, Stephen Kilroy, Adam Webber and Tommy Bird touched the wall first with a time of 1:23.63 seconds.

The Pitt men’s team (9-1) defeated Penn State 125-118 while the women fell to 6-4 overall, dropping decisions to both the No. 13 Nittany Lions and No. 12 Indiana.

The 200-yard medley team of Chad White, Dave Montgomery, Ryan Jackson and Andrew Patrizzi opened the men’s meet with a victory in 1:32.47 seconds. This was followed by a 1-3-5 finish in the 1000 yard freestyle, with senior Eric Limkemann placing first, nearly six seconds faster than his opponent.

Penn State registered its first victories in the 200- and 50-yard freestyle bouts, but the Panthers’ Jason Miller extended the lead to 11 points with his victory in the 200 yard individual medley.

Pitt then pulled its second 1-3-5 finish in the 200-yard backstroke with freshman Jeff Leath touching the wall first with a time of 1:50.24 seconds.

After two more Penn State victories in the 500-yard freestyle and 3-meter diving competition, Pitt trailed 108-99. However, the Panthers came through when senior Randy Gertenbach and sophomore Steve Marcucio finished in first and second place respectively in the 100-yard breaststroke

This was followed by the 200-yard freestyle relay victory, which sealed the win for Pitt.

With no individual winners or first place finishes, the women did not fare as well in their 20-event competition against the two Big Ten opponents.

Pitt women’s swimming and diving team lost 293-76 to host Penn State and fell to the Hoosiers, 271.5-95.5 over the course of Friday and Saturday.

Penn State then went on to defeat Indiana, 188-180.

The 200-yard freestyle relay team of Carolyne Savini, Jenny Livingstone, Kelly Redcay and Kristin Brown had a third place finish with a time of 1:35.48 seconds.

Junior Cynthia Snyder finished in third in the 100-yard breaststroke, with senior teammate Ryan Redman just five hundredths of a second behind her, in a tie for fourth place.

In the 3-meter diving event, sophomore Colleen Kristobak finished in fourth place of eight competitors. Senior Kelli Tielking also finished in fourth place in the 100-yard butterfly.

The Panthers will face Virginia Tech and nationally-ranked Virginia next weekend.