Simon Qualifies for Nationals; Lions Stay On Top at AMCC Championships

GROVE CITY, Pa. - Dan Simon (Harrison City, PA/Penn Trafford) won the 100 backstroke in an NCAA qualifying time and new AMCC meet record with a time of 50.01 to lead Penn State Behrend on the second day of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Championships on Friday at Grove City.

Simon earned his second individual title and repeats as champion in the 100 backstroke, while finishing first overall in the entire meet to help the Lions remain in first place in the championships with 166 points. Altoona is a close second with 153 total and Bradford is in third with 97 points.

Nick Kost (Ashburn, VA/Stone Bridge) was the first individual winner on the day, capturing the 400 IM with a time of 4:16.39 to set a new AMCC meet record. That time was also good enough for sixth overall. Lloyd Koester (Edinboro, PA/General McLane ) was fourth in the same event, touching in 4:52.15.

Simon, Eric Matteson (Corry, PA/Corry), Scott Romanko (Plum, PA/Plum) and Kenton Matthaei (Madison, NJ/Madison) took fifth overall and second in the conference in 200 medley relay with a time of 1:38.31.

Nick Roth (Pittsburgh, PA/Baldwin) and Steve Torre led the Lions in the 200 freestyle. Roth placed third  in the conference in 1:49.80 and Torre was a close fourth in 1:50.55.

After his performance in the 200 medley relay, Romanko then took sixth in the AMCC in the 100 butterfly (55.95).

In the 100 breaststroke, Victor Nguyen (San Jose, CA/Evergreen Valley) was third in the conference (1:00.54) and seventh overall, while Matteson fourth (10^th overall) in 1:00.65.

Roth, Kost, Ty Elder (Brentwood, CA/Heritage) and Ryan Mitcheltree (Moon Township, PA/Moon) finished in third in the conference and seventh overall  in the final 800 free relay with a time of 7:30.95.

Behrend returns to action tomorrow for the final day of the AMCC Championships. Preliminaries begin at 10 a.m.