Good things are looming in the future for the Penn State men’s swimming team.
Although the Nittany Lions (0-4) lost to No. 14 Washington 152-136, Penn State swimming and diving coach Bill Dorenkott remained optimistic after the best outing for the men all season on Friday at the McCoy Natatorium.
“We’ll be good, there’s no doubt, but the question is how soon,” Dorenkott said, “These guys took a lot of pride in themselves today.”
After winning the final event of the afternoon, the men’s 400-yard freestyle relay, Dorenkott ran out to congratulate swimmers Todd Minnier, Daryl Northrop, Nate Torok and Ofer Finkler who edged out Washington’s team with a time of 3:05.17.
“Washington is ranked number 14 and we swam toe to toe in 16 events,” Dorenkott said.
Washington senior and team co-captain Luke Ekhoff said Penn State was probably better than its ranking suggested.
“We got the job done,” Ekhoff said. “But we saw their heart and that they were gunning for us.”
Ekhoff was one of two swimmers for the Huskies who posted two individual event wins. He won both the 200-yard breaststroke and the 200-yard individual medley.
Following the meet, Dorenkott told his players that this meet is where the push toward becoming a Big Ten power begins.
“We’ve been training well and guys having been pushing and pushing themselves and that’ll translate into performance,” Dorenkott said, “The harder you perform, the luckier you get.”
Sophomore Willie Gordon and Minnier joined diver Adam Pierce lead the Lions with two wins apiece.
Both the Penn State men’s and women’s diving teams had an outstanding afternoon. They dominated by winning all four events.
Pierce, along with sophomore Mike Alderman, made the national cut score in 1-meter diving by earning at least a score of 300.
Minnier won the 100- and 200-yard freestyle while Gordon won both the 500- and 1000-yard freestyle.
“It was our best meet and we were really strong,” Gordon said. “We need to keep having meets like this, and we’ll do well. [Dorenkott] said we don’t need set the world on fire now.”
