Men's Swimming and Diving Places Second at Blue Devil Invite
Mark Patterson was a double winner and Nick Kost hit an NCAA "B" cut time in the 400 IM to lead the Penn State Behrend men's swimming and diving team on the final day of the Blue Devil Invite.
FREDONIA, NY – Mark Patterson (North Huntingdon, PA/Norwin) was a double winner and Nick Kost (Ashburn, VA/Stone Bridge) hit an NCAA "B" cut time in the 400 IM to lead the Penn State Behrend men's swimming and diving team on the final day of the Blue Devil Invite.
The Lions, who held the lead after day two, were edged out by Allegheny by seven points to win the Invite with 638 points. Behrend followed in second with 631 and John Carroll came in third with a team total of 611.
Patterson took nearly five seconds off his preliminary time to win the 200 freestyle in 1:43.38. Ryan Siggins (Erie, PA/Iroquois) also made the Top 10 with a fifth-place finish in 1:47.77. Patterson also won the 100 backstroke for his second victory on the day. He had a winning time of 51.68 to edge out Jack Garrow from John Carroll (52.82).
Kost won in a close 400 IM with an NCAA "B" cut time of 4:06.95 and nearly breaking his school record. Keith Powell (Bethel Park, PA/Bethel Park) was second on the team and ninth overall in 4:28.32 and Nathan Wagner (Ypsilanti, MI/Lincoln) was 11th in 4:34.06.
Patterson, Siggins, Kost and Nick Roth (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) picked up a relay victory on the night for the Lions. The foursome tallied a time of 3:11.72 for first place the 400 free relay. In the beginning relay of the morning session, Patterson, Roth, Blair Carson (Wellsboro, PA/Wellsboro) and Siggins clocked in at 3:36.20 in the 400 medley relay to place third overall.
Carson was the lone Lion to make the "A" final in the 200 breaststroke. He finished in sixth with a time of 2:14.78. Ryan Elsey (Hermitage, PA/Hickory) earned points by taking 11th in the same event with a time of 2:15.95, two seconds faster than the prelims.
Austin Willey (Erie, PA/Iroquois) had the top time for Behrend in the 100 butterfly, touching in 55.44 for 11th place followed by Jeremy Brosius (Hatboro, PA/Hatboro-Horsham) in 56.13 for 13th overall.
The Lions return to action on Saturday, January 14 against Washington & Jefferson at 1 p.m.