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Penn State Finishes Third Overall at Big Ten Championships

Feb 27, 2000

Courtesy: Penn State
The Penn State men's swimming and diving team finished third overall at the 2000 Big Ten Championships which concluded Saturday at the Donald B. Canham Natatorium on the campus of the University of Michigan. The Nittany Lions finished the competition with a total of 514 points, 168 behind conference champion Michigan and 87 off the pace of second place Minnesota.

After qualifying two athletes into the finals of every event through the first two days of competition, Penn State failed to place finalists in two of the day's seven events. The Lions lost possession of second place after failing to place a swimmer in the top 16 during the opening event of the finals, the 1650 freestyle.

The Lions briefly regained second place status following the 100 freestyle, which saw a total of four Penn Staters notch scoring performances. Holden Comeau (Carlisle, Pa.), who registered the top preliminary time in the event at 44.16, led Penn State's four finalists with a finals time of 44.16 and a fourth place finish. Brian Hostetler (Chambersburg, Pa.) touched the line right after to finish fifth with a time of 44.76. Bob Molettiere (Harleysville, Pa.) and Eugene Botes finished 10th and 11th respectively.

Josh Weaver (York, Pa.) had Penn State's top individual finish during the championships' final day with a second place showing in the 200 back at 1:45.80. Other Penn State scorers include Joe Peresan (Lancaster, N.Y.), seventh in 200 breaststroke (2:01.57); Matt Teeter (Gettysburg, Pa.), 11th in 200 breaststroke (2:02.24) and Martin Schierhorn (Zappendorf, Germany), 15th in 200 butterfly (1:50.38). The Nittany Lions failed to score in the aforementioned 1650 freestyle and the three-meter diving competition.

The Lions tacked on 34 points to their overall total when the 400 freestyle relay squad of Comeau, Hostetler, Botes and Molettiere recorded a second place finish in the final event of the championships.