NCAA Div. I: Texas A&M Spoils Penn State’s Home Opener

UNIVERSITY PARK, Penn., November 8. THE 15th-ranked Texas A&M men’s swimming & diving team captured 13 of 16 events en route to a 176-117 victory over Penn State at McCoy Natatorium on Friday afternoon.

Seniors Josh Hill and Scott Mueller led the way for the Aggies by winning two events each. Hill posted solid times in winning both the 200-yard freestyle (1:40.81) and the 200 backstroke (1:48.71). Mueller won the 100 freestyle (45.78) while blazing to a 10-second win in the 400 individual medley (3:56.27). Mueller’s 400 IM time was just three seconds away from the 3:53.21 that earned him runner-up honors at the Big 12 Championships a season ago.

“The 200 free really set the tone for the whole meet,” A&M head coach Mel Nash said. “We went 1-2-3 with Josh, Scott (Newmann) and Calvin (Zielsdorf), who set an impressive lifetime-best in third place (1:41.80). I’m very pleased with how we’re swimming right now”

The Aggies broke the meet open with three 1-2-3 finishes in the last five events heading into the first diving intermission. Matt Rose guided the Aggies into the break with a full-second win in the 50 freestyle. Rose, the current national leader in the event (20.27) posted a time of 20.34 to finish ahead of teammate Ross Collins (21.53).

Rose capped off the meet by dropping his collegiate-leading 50 time to 20.24 by leading off the winning 200 free relay. Rose’s time also set the McCoy Natatorium record. The quartet of Rose, Zielsdorf, Collins, Blanchard recorded a time of 1:22.21 in the 200 free relay. Heading into last weekend, only national champion Auburn had a faster time in the event.

Sophomore diver Christian Picard got back on the winning track by earning the win on the three-meter springboard. The Big 12 one-meter champ defeated Penn State’s Marc Gastaldo 309.23-300.83.

The Aggie school record combination of Alfredo Jacobo and Alex Dawson both turned in wins in the event in which each holds the A&M record. Jacobo grabbed first in the 100 breast (57.17) while Dawson was top at 200 yards (2:05.76).

Junior Dan Blanchard finished first in the 100 back (51.18) while sophomore teammate Devin Saez nosed out All-American Chris Nelan 50.84-50.87 in the 100 fly.

The foursome of Rose, Jacobo, Nelan and Collins posted one of the fastest times in the country in winning the 200 medley relay (1:30.85) to begin the meet.

For PSU, Gordon won the 1000-yard freestyle and the 500 freestyle in 9 minutes, 18 seconds, and 4:34, respectively. He also took second in the 400 IM with a time of 4:05.26, just .19 seconds off the pace of teammate Dustin Thompson (Munster, Ind.).

Thompson also won the 200 butterfly in 1:52 to cap off a solid night in front of the home crowd. Junior Adam Pierce (Conroe, Texas0 won the 1-meter diving competition with a score of 291.98 and he placed third in 3-meter diving with 267.53. Teammate Marc Gastaldo (Winslow, Maine) was third in 1-meter diving with 272.63 and second in 3-meter diving with 300.83.

Sophomores Dan Velez (Germantown, Md.) and Chris Ippoliti (Berwyn, Pa.) raced neck-to-neck in the 100 breaststroke, but finished second and third, respectively, to the Aggies' Alfredo Jacobo. All three touched the wall within .55 seconds of one another. The Nittany Lions will be back in action with the women's team, making their home opener, versus Washington 3 p.m. Nov. 14 at McCoy Natatorium.

Texas A&M v. PSU – 11/7/2003
Results

Event 1 Men 200 Yard Medley Relay
===============================================================================
School Seed Finals Points
===============================================================================
1 TEXAS A&M 'B' NT 1:30.85 11
1) Rose, Matt SR 2) Jacobo, Alfredo JR
3) Nelan, Chris SR 4) Collins, Ross JR
2 PENN STATE UNIVERSITY 'A' NT 1:33.97 4
1) McLin, Shawn M SO 2) Ippoliti, Chris C SO
3) Johansson, Patrik G JR 4) Northrop, Daryl M JR
3 TEXAS A&M 'A' NT 1:34.17 2
1) Blanchard, Dan JR 2) Dawson, Alex SO
3) Watson, Joe SO 4) Gardner, Ozzie FR
4 TEXAS A&M 'C' NT 1:36.21
1) Bratten, Jeff FR 2) Friggel, David JR
3) Hansen, Scott SR 4) Raiford, Brad FR
5 PENN STATE UNIVERSITY 'B' NT 1:38.50
1) Torok, Nate A FR 2) Zucca, Mark S JR
3) Thompson, Dustin E JR 4) Velez, Dan N SO

Event 2 Men 1000 Yard Freestyle
===============================================================================
Name Year School Seed Finals Points
===============================================================================
1 Gordon, Willie A SO PENN STATE NT 9:18.69 9
2 Solomon, Mark SO A&M NT 9:32.00 4
3 Healy, Pat J FR PENN STATE NT 9:40.24 3
4 Benson, Joel SO A&M NT 10:06.98 2

Event 3 Men 200 Yard Freestyle
===============================================================================
Name Year School Seed Finals Points
===============================================================================
1 Hill, Josh SR A&M NT 1:40.81 9
2 Newmann, Scott SO A&M NT 1:40.92 4
3 Zielsdorf, Calvin JR A&M NT 1:41.80 3
4 Finkler, Ofer FR PENN STATE NT 1:43.75 2
5 Northrop, Daryl M JR PENN STATE NT 1:45.04 1

Event 4 Men 100 Yard Backstroke
===============================================================================
Name Year School Seed Finals Points
===============================================================================
1 Blanchard, Dan JR A&M NT 51.18 9
2 Neal, Matt SO A&M NT 52.11 4
3 Dawson, Alex SO A&M NT 52.46 3
4 Torok, Nate A FR PENN STATE NT 52.55 2
5 McLin, Shawn M SO PENN STATE NT 53.59 1

Event 5 Men 100 Yard Breaststroke
===============================================================================
Name Year School Seed Finals Points
===============================================================================
1 Jacobo, Alfredo JR A&M NT 57.17 9
2 Velez, Dan N SO PENN STATE NT 57.38 4
3 Ippoliti, Chris C SO PENN STATE NT 57.82 3
4 Friggel, David JR A&M NT 58.58 2
5 Moeller, Jonathan SO A&M NT 59.10 1
6 Zucca, Mark S JR PENN STATE NT 59.46

Event 6 Men 200 Yard Butterfly
===============================================================================
Name Year School Seed Finals Points
===============================================================================
1 Thompson, Dustin E JR PENN STATE NT 1:52.22 9
2 Saez, Devin SO A&M NT 1:53.21 4
3 Hansen, Scott SR A&M NT 1:53.92 3
4 Kornacki, Richard A SO PENN STATE NT 1:57.26 2
5 Watson, Joe SO A&M NT 1:57.41 1
6 Tucker, Bobby E SR PENN STATE NT 2:01.16

Event 7 Men 50 Yard Freestyle
===============================================================================
Name Year School Seed Finals Points
===============================================================================
1 Rose, Matt SR A&M NT 20.34 9
2 Collins, Ross JR A&M NT 21.53 4
3 Gardner, Ozzie FR A&M NT 21.70 3
4 Johansson, Patrik G JR PENN STATE NT 21.85 2
5 Kaiserian, Dan E FR PENN STATE NT 22.45 1

Event 8 Men 1 mtr Diving
===============================================================================
Name Year School Seed Finals Points
===============================================================================
1 Pierce, Adam M PENN STATE NT 291.98 9
2 Picard, Christian SO A&M NT 289.95 4
3 Gastaldo, Marc F PENN STATE NT 272.63 3
4 Alderman, Mike A PENN STATE NT 254.93 2

Event 9 Men 100 Yard Freestyle
===============================================================================
Name Year School Seed Finals Points
===============================================================================
1 Mueller, Scott SR A&M NT 45.78 9
2 Newmann, Scott SO A&M NT 46.17 4
3 Northrop, Daryl M JR PENN STATE NT 47.37 3
4 Kemp, Ryan SO A&M NT 47.88 2
5 Finkler, Ofer FR PENN STATE NT 48.18 1
6 Ippoliti, Chris C SO PENN STATE NT 48.22

Event 10 Men 200 Yard Backstroke
===============================================================================
Name Year School Seed Finals Points
===============================================================================
1 Hill, Josh SR A&M NT 1:48.71 9
2 Bratten, Jeff FR A&M NT 1:53.50 4
3 Torok, Nate A FR PENN STATE NT 1:53.79 3
4 McLin, Shawn M SO PENN STATE NT 1:54.08 2
5 Blanchard, Dan JR A&M NT 1:54.43 1

Event 11 Men 200 Yard Breaststroke
===============================================================================
Name Year School Seed Finals Points
===============================================================================
1 Dawson, Alex SO A&M NT 2:05.76 9
2 Jacobo, Alfredo JR A&M NT 2:06.38 4
3 Velez, Dan N SO PENN STATE NT 2:06.52 3
4 Friggel, David JR A&M NT 2:07.33 2
5 Zucca, Mark S JR PENN STATE NT 2:07.46 1
6 Tucker, Bobby E SR PENN STATE NT 2:15.50

Event 12 Men 500 Yard Freestyle
===============================================================================
Name Year School Seed Finals Points
===============================================================================
1 Gordon, Willie A SO PENN STATE NT 4:34.10 9
2 Solomon, Mark SO A&M NT 4:35.91 4
3 Healy, Pat J FR PENN STATE NT 4:43.97 3
4 Hansen, Scott SR A&M NT 4:51.48 2

Event 13 Men 100 Yard Butterfly
===============================================================================
Name Year School Seed Finals Points
===============================================================================
1 Saez, Devin SO A&M NT 50.84 9
2 Nelan, Chris SR A&M NT 50.87 4
3 Johansson, Patrik G JR PENN STATE NT 52.17 3
4 Benson, Joel SO A&M NT 54.26 2
5 Kaiserian, Dan E FR PENN STATE NT 54.31 1

Event 14 Men 3 mtr Diving
===============================================================================
Name Year School Seed Finals Points
===============================================================================
1 Picard, Christian SO A&M NT 309.23 9
2 Gastaldo, Marc F PENN STATE NT 300.83 4
3 Pierce, Adam M PENN STATE NT 267.53 3
4 Alderman, Mike A PENN STATE NT 246.00 2

Event 15 Men 400 Yard IM
===============================================================================
Name Year School Seed Finals Points
===============================================================================
1 Thompson, Dustin E JR PENN STATE NT 4:05.07 9
2 Gordon, Willie A SO PENN STATE NT 4:05.26 4
3 Kornacki, Richard A SO PENN STATE NT 4:15.77 3
— Moeller, Jonathan SO A&M NT X3:56.27
— Dawson, Alex SO A&M NT X4:07.37
— Neal, Matt SO A&M NT X4:20.44

Event 16 Men 200 Yard Freestyle Relay
===============================================================================
School Seed Finals Points
===============================================================================
1 TEXAS A&M 'A' NT 1:22.21 11
1) Rose, Matt SR 2) Zielsdorf, Calvin JR
3) Collins, Ross JR 4) Blanchard, Dan JR
2 PENN STATE UNIVERSITY 'A' NT 1:25.38 4
1) Northrop, Daryl M JR 2) Johansson, Patrik G JR
3) Finkler, Ofer FR 4) Ippoliti, Chris C SO
3 PENN STATE UNIVERSITY 'B' NT 1:30.44 2
1) Kaiserian, Dan E FR 2) McLin, Shawn M SO
3) Healy, Pat J FR 4) Tucker, Bobby E SR
— TEXAS A&M 'B' NT X1:24.64
1) Kemp, Ryan SO 2) Gardner, Ozzie FR
3) Hill, Josh SR 4) Newmann, Scott SO
— TEXAS A&M 'C' NT X1:25.78
1) Raiford, Brad FR 2) Watson, Joe SO
3) Nelan, Chris SR 4) Mueller, Scott SR

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