The Penn State men's swimming and diving team was forced to move on without one of its key players, sophomore Willie Gordon, Saturday against North Carolina.

The challenge proved difficult as the Nittany Lions fell 172-128 to the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill, N.C.

The Nittany Lions (2-5) got off to a fast start by winning seven of the first 11 events. They then fell off pace towards the end as No. 21 North Carolina (4-3) picked up its intensity.

North Carolina split the double dual meet as they lost to Harvard 157-143.

Sophomore Dan Velez said it was not particularly frustrating to lose in the end.

"We lost another one of our key swimmers," Velez said. "We had to get by, by getting a lot of small victories."

Velez, along with senior Todd Minnier, helped carry the load for the Nittany Lions. Velez had two individual event wins coming in the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke with times of 57.63 and 2:06.44.

Senior Todd Minnier picked up three individual event wins. He won the 50-yard, 100-yard and 200-yard freestyle. He also contributed to the Lions winning the 200-yard medley relay.

"It was disappointing swimming especially after we had such a good training period," Minnier said. "It's never fun losing, but we did the best we could."

The Lions spent a large part of their break in Naples, Fla., training for the remainder of the season.

"It's the pinnacle of our training season," Minnier said. "We put in a lot of work and a lot of yardage as we focused on the end of the season."

The diving team was led by Marc Gastaldo, who finished first in the 3-meter board with a score of 321.05 and second in the 1-meter board with a score of 280.3.

Gordon leaves swim team before break

Sophomore Willie Gordon left the Penn State men’s swim team shortly before the start of winter break.

“It was a surprise,” senior Todd Minnier said, “He was having such a good year.”

Gordon has the best times for four separate events this season for the Nittany Lions. He set the 500-yard freestyle (4:32.69), 400-yard individual medley (4:00.35) and 1650 freestyle (15:44.55) team records at the George Invitational on Dec. 5.

Gordon also has the No. 1 time for Penn State in the 1000-yard freestyle (9:18.69) which he set against Texas A&M on Nov. 7. The Lions lost the meet 176-117.

Gordon could not be reached for comment.