Complete Results

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. â€" Sophomore Lauren Barber (New Wilmington, Pa.) and a trio of men swimmers combined for six first-place performances as the Navy swimming and diving teams fell short to Penn State on Saturday at McCoy Natatorium. The Nittany Lions men's team (3-3) defeated the Mids (7-2), 173-127, while Penn State's women's squad (3-4) recorded a 199-99 victory over Navy (7-2).

"Very pleased with the effort today as the guys stepped up and raced a good team," said Navy men's swimming head coach Bill Roberts. "In the end, Penn State just had a couple more events that they were stronger in and they were able to pull away towards the end of the meet."

"We had a strong fight against a good Penn State team," said Navy women's swimming head coach John Morrison. "We came out ready to race and it certainly was a challenge for us all the way. We, however, did have several very good swims."

"We went up against a very talented team from the BIG 10," said Navy diving coach Rich MacDonald. "We have been working on putting all the hard work and training together the past couple weeks and it is starting to show. We still have some work to do to get ready for the championship season that is coming up soon."

Senior Sam Ciocco opened up the individual events with a first-place finish in the 1,000 freestyle. Ciocco placed first with a time of 9:29.17, finishing ahead of teammate Brayden Lauffer's (Apex, N.C.) time of 9:32.79.

"Really proud of Sam [Ciocco] for stepping up in the first individual event in the 1000 free and getting us off to a good start," said Roberts.

Following up Ciocco's performance, teammate Joseph Jaime (Jr., San Antonio, Texas) captured the individual crown in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:39.21, edging out Penn State's Matthew Stasiunas by 0:00.18 seconds.

Navy's 200-yard butterfly trio of William Rittenhouse (Jr., London, England), Hayes McCullagh (Sr., Charlotte, N.C.) and Nick Pfanstiel (So., Fishers, Ind.) recorded the top three spots in the event. Rittenhouse paced the Navy trio with a first-place finish of 1:52.20, while McCullagh and Pfanstiel hit the pool's edge at the exact same time of 1:52.64 for second and third place, respectively.

For the second consecutive dual meet, Barber racked up first-place performances in the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke and 200-yard individual medley. The sophomore swimmer opened up with a first-place 100-yard breaststroke time of 1:02.17, which was a full three seconds faster than Penn State's Carly Fried. Barber then outswam the 200-yard breaststroke field, clocking in a first-place time of 2:14.09, which was six seconds faster than Penn State's Annalee Johnson. The New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, native capped off the meet with a first-place finish in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:02.04.

"[Lauren] Barber led the way in the individual events and continues to compete and fight at the national level," said Morrison.

Overall, the Navy men's swimmers tallied 15 first or second-place performances in 17 events, while the Navy women's squad combined for 10 first or second-place finishes at the meet.

Both Navy teams will continue the 2017 campaign on Wednesday with a three-team meet, featuring Johns Hopkins and Towson, at Lejuene Hall in Annapolis (4 PM).