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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The H₂Okies travelled north this weekend to take on the Nittany Lions of Pennsylvania State University for their first road meet of the season. The men had a strong showing, winning eight events with four sweeps, downing the Nittany Lions, 181.5-118.5. The women’s team struggled against the tough Penn State squad, taking its first loss, 187-113. The Lady H₂Okies won four events including a sweep of the 3-meter springboard. The male H₂Okies are now 2-0 and the women, 2-1. The Nittany Lion women improve to 2-0, while the men fall to 0-2.

The H₂Okies opened the individual competition with titles in both 1000-yard freestyle events. Erika Hajnal took the top spot for the women, swimming a 10:07.79, and Lauren Ritter came in second at 10:12.61. The men’s team swept the event, as Blake Trabuchi-Downey took home the gold (9:31.45), followed by Philip LaRosa (9:34.65) and Alex Lutterbein (9:38.51).

Erika Hajnal took home the Lady H₂Okies’ only other swimming title, winning the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:51.82. Carissa Santora won her first event of the season, earning the highest score of the day on the 1-meter springboard with a career-high 288.97. The women later swept the 3-meter competition, with Sarah Milton taking home the gold with 333.00 points, followed by Cara Murnan (285.22) and Carissa Santora (264.80).

Bryan Uncur was the only male swimmer to take home two titles, winning both the 200 (1:40.86) and the 500 freestyle (4:35.60) events. Charlie Higgins and Gregory Mahon won the two other men’s individual titles, as Higgins won the 100 backstroke (49.95) and Mahon took the top spot in the 100 butterfly (50.23). Karl Botha, Stephen Hawkins, Michael Hallock and Matt Baumler represented the H₂Okies in the 400 freestyle relay, closing out the meet with a first-place finish in 3:05.17.

Logan Shinholser swept the men’s diving competition, winning the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard events with scores of 366.30 and 409.20, respectively. Freshman Ryan Hawkins came in second in both events, scoring 359.92 on the 1-meter and 382.35 on the 3-meter.

The H₂Okies have a few weeks to rest before traveling to Charlottesville, Va., on Nov. 12-13, to take on the University of Virginia and Princeton University. The matchup between Tech and UVa. is the H₂Okies’ only head-to-head competition against an ACC squad this season.

For updates on Virginia Tech swimming & diving, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_SwimDive).