The Penn State Swimming and Diving teams opened their long-awaited 2025-26 season with a dominant victory over St. Bonaventure. The men took home a win with a final score of 228-72, while the women posted a 211-81 victory.
This marks the first win in head coach Hollie Bonewit-Cron‘s second season. The Nittany Lions are continuing their momentum from their very successful 2024-25 campaign under Bonewit-Cron.
Penn State senior Eduardo Cisternas won the 1000-yard Free with a time of 9:15.79, with sophomore Jack Clancy trailing, posting a 9:29.08.
Sophomore Rylan Anselm touched first in the 200-yard Free with a 1:38.18.
The Nittany Lions continued their dominance with senior Cooper Morley taking first in the 100-yard Back, posting a time of 46.42. Senior Mariano Lazzerini followed in the 100-yard Breast, winning first with a 52.54.
Junior Alex Karahalis posted a 1:46.26 to win the 200-yard Fly.
Junior Tylor Kim took back-to-back events, winning the 50-yard Free with a 19.90 and the 100-yard Free with a 43.26.
Morley took his second event of the day, winning the 200-yard Back with a 1:46.95. He was closely followed by Ian Combs, who took second with a 1:48.09. Lazzerini also found his second win of the day in the 200-yard Breast, posting a 1:56.39.
Penn State swept the podium in the 500-yard Free. Cisternas swam a 4:24:83 to grab first, while Anselm posted a 4:28.47, good for second, and Clancy with a 4:34.44, good for third.
Senior Matthew Bittner tallied his first victory of the season, posting a 48.19 in the 100-yard Fly.
Senior Andrew Christensen and Karahalis both posted a 1:49.54 in the 200-yard, recording the singular tie of the match-up. This served as a new personal best for Christensen.
The 200-yard Medley Relay team of Bittner, Lazzerini, Morley and Kim took home first with a time of 1:25.69.
Penn State claimed first in the 400-yard Free Relay. The team, consisting of Lazzerini, Toni Slavica, Jake Kennedy and Kim, tallied a 2:56.97.
Hayden Elliot got his first win of the season in the one-meter competition, tallying a final score of 320.85, while Danny McGaughey placed second with a score of 292.35. Elliot added an additional victory in the three-meter event with a final score of 321.30. Elliot defeated the second-place finisher by over 39 points.
In the women’s meet, Penn State senior Morgan Moore touched first place in the 1000-yard Free with a time of 10:03.07.
Senior Catherine Meisner swam a 1:46.82 to win the 200-yard Free. Margart Markvardt followed in the 100-yard Back, swimming a 55.17.
Sophomore Audrey Cohen took home first in the 100-yard Breast with a 1:03.27.
Freshman Cyrah Robinson grabbed first with an exciting finish in the 50-yard Free, boasting a 23.60, just .19 seconds in front of sophomore Katie Ketter. This served as a new personal best for the freshman from Texas.
Meisner took her second event of the day, winning the 100-yard Free with a time of 50.29. Cohen followed in the 200-yard Breast, winning her second event with a 2:16.80.
Morgan Moore grabbed her second event of the day, boasting a 4:57.09 to win the 500-yard Free. Robinson followed, taking her second event of the day with a 55:10 in the 100-yard Fly.
The Penn State women swept the podium in the 200-yard IM. Julia Meisner won the event with a time of 2:02.54, followed by her twin sister, Catherine Meisner, with a time of 2:02.71, and Julia Shafer with a time of 2:04.39.
The women started strong, winning the 200-yard Medley Relay with a time of 1:42.46. The team consisted of Markvardt, Cohen, Millie Evans and Ketter.
The 400-yard Free Relay boasted a close finish, with Penn State taking both first and second. The first-place team of Robinson, Moore, Cohen, and Julia Barto tallied a 3:24.49, good for first in an electric finish.
Grace Brammer dominated on the women’s side, sweeping both the one- and three-meter diving events. Brammer had a final score of 314.63 in the three-meter dive and a final score of 262.95 in the one-meter dive.
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