STATE COLLEGE, Pa. ¨C The #20 Penn State men¡¯s swim team will send ten student-athletes to the University of Georgia for the NCAA National Championships set to take place from Thursday, March 28 through Saturday, March 30.
Junior Eugene Botes (Glen Mills, Pa.) and senior Bob Molettiere (Harleysville, Pa.) will lead the Nittany Lions as both are seeded in the top eight in their respective events. Botes is seeded second in the 100-yard freestyle and third in the 100-yard butterfly, while Molettiere is seeded fifth in the 50-yard freestyle. Molettiere is also seeded 11th in the 100 free. The top eight placers receive All-America honors. Both Botes and Molettiere scored team points at last year¡¯s NCAA Championships. Botes placed 14th in the 100 fly and Molettiere placed 13th in the 50 free. Martin Schierhorn (Zappendorf, Germany) will also warrant All-American consideration. He is seeded 14th in the 200-yard freestyle and 16th in the 500-yard freestyle. At last year¡¯s Championships he placed 10th in the 500 free and 13th in the 200 free. Penn State will also have several relays that will be in contention for title. The Nittany Lions 400-yard freestyle relay is seeded fourth and the 200-yard freestyle relay is seeded 7th. The 200 and 400-yard medley relays are seeded 12th and 16th. The following swimmers will be heading to Texas: Steve Bohner (Lansdale, Pa.), Eugene Botes, Andrew Hartner (New Paltz, N.Y.), John Lutz (Hershey, Pa.), Paul Kirk (Gates Mills, Ohio), Todd Minnier (Avon Lake, Ohio), Bob Molettiere, Martin Schierhorn, Josh Weaver (York, Pa.) and Mark Zucca (Hudson, Ohio). Penn State will be looking to improve on their 16th place finish of a year ago, which was the highest the Nittany Lions have ever finished at the NCAA Swimming Championships. The Championships will be televised Friday, April 12 at 2:00 p.m. on ESPN and on Monday, April 29 at 2:00 p.m. on ESPN2. The NCAA Championships will begin Thursday with preliminaries beginning at 11:00 a.m. and finals at 7:00 p.m. The same time format will be followed on Friday and Saturday. For live results log on to www.georgiadogs.com and for periodic updates check www.gopsusports.com.
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