Pitt Women, Penn State Men Victorious in Rivalry Meet
A Pennsylvania rivalry dual meet featured a pair of close finishes. With the University of Pittsburgh visiting State College, Penn., the Panther women defeated Penn State 161 to 138 while Penn State won 164-133 over Pitt.
Pitt’s women got their first win in the 200 freestyle, where Avery Kudlac touched in 1:48.41 and teammate Molly Warner grabbed second. Sofija Tijunelis came through in the 100 backstroke (54.64), and Lauren McNamara was the only swimmer under 2:00 in the 200 butterfly (1:59.13). In diving, Eleanor Williams won 3-meter (277.50) while teammate Marleigh DaSilva triumphed on 1-meter (269.18).
Anna Forjan got to the wall first in the 200 back (1:57.75), and Allie Witdoeckt placed first in the 100 fly (54.35). Molly Warner was the winner of the 400 IM (4:18.93), and the 400 free relay team of Kudlac, Witdoeckt, Tijunelis and Anna Wiechertjes touched first in 3:20.16.
Penn State got off to a strong start in the 200 medley relay as Millie Evans, Audrey Cohen, Gabi Abruzzo and Katie Ketter recorded a time of 1:40.97, good enough to win by 0.12. Cohen later won the 100 breaststroke (1:01.64) and 200 breaststroke (2:13.85), and Ketter topped the 50 free (22.33) and 100 free (49.83). The Nittany Lions also got a win in the 1000 free from Hannah Wilson (10:10.53), and Sara McNabb led the way in the 500 free (5:06.02).
On the men’s side, Penn State’s Pedro Medrado, Ben Kutufaris, Alex Karahalis and Tylor Kim won the 200 medley relay in 1:26.39. Medrado won the 100 back (48.59), touching out Pitt’s Jacopo Nuca by one hundredth, and he later won the 200 back (1:46.31). Karahalis comfortably won the 200 fly in 1:46.53 before doubling up in the 100 fly (46.46) and Kim came through in both the 50 free (19.91) and 100 free (43.33).
Roman Dawson had his team’s first individual win in the 1000 free (9:13.60), followed by Rylan Anselm taking out the 200 free (1:35.74). Medrado got a third individual win in the 400 IM, going 3:48.17 to win by exactly 10 seconds. Kim, Jake Kennedy, Kutufaris and Anselm combined for a first-place finish in the 400 free relay, recording a time of 2:57.36.
Pitt’s Shea Skarda came through in the 100 breast with a time of 54.95, and he added a win in the 200 breast, his 1:59.09 surpassing Penn State’s Gabe Campos by eight hundredths. Ramez Sobhy led the way in 1-meter diving (322.65) as Pitt swept the top-four spots, and teammate Noah Bernard won 3-meter (349.80). Cy Zhang placed first by more than three seconds in the 500 free (4:29.88).
