BUFFALO, N.Y. – Through three complete days of the State University of New York Athletic Conference Championships, hosted at the Burt Flickinger Aquatic Center, the Penn State Altoona men's swimming team was in fifth place out of 11 teams.

By the end of Friday night's finals session, the Lions had compiled a three-day score of 284 points. Penn State Behrend held down first place in the standings with 591 points, while SUNY Cortland was in second with 493 points and SUNY Oswego was in third with 418 points.

Friday's finals opened with the 400 Yard IM. Caden Traggiai (Saxonburg, PA/Knoch) qualified for the 'A' cut and proceeded to take fifth place with a time of 4:18.09. The 100 Yard Butterfly came next, in which Ben Dotts (Hummelstown, PA/Lower Dauphin) recorded a time of 52.34 to place 11th while competing in the 'B' final.

The Lions had their best performance of the night in the next event, the 200 Yard Freestyle, where both Pedro Teran (Allentown, PA/Parkland) and Shuo Sun (Falls Church, VA/China High Schools) qualified to compete in the 'A' final. Teran won SUNYAC gold in the race, placing first with a time of 1:43.03, while Sun came in sixth place with a time of 1:44.89.

Two swimmers made the 'B' cut in the next swim, the 100 Yard Breaststroke. Adam Dotts (Hummelstown, PA/Lower Dauphin) won the 'B' final and took ninth place overall after he finished in 59.99, and Jackson Ketterling (Bismarck, ND/Bismarck) got 11th place after coming in at 1:02.25.

Three Lions competed in the next event, the 100 Yard Backstroke. Gabe Krizel (Allentown, PA/Parkland) qualified for the 'A' final, in which he placed fifth after clocking in at 53.56. In the 'B' final, Liam Fass (Dingmans Ferry, PA/Delaware Valley) and Nick Trabucco (Carlisle, PA/Boiling Springs) came in 13th and 14th, respectively, with times of 57.55 and 58.51.

The evening wrapped up with the 400 Yard Medley Relay, in which the Lions had two teams place. In the 'A' final, the group of Krizel, Ketterling, Ben Dotts, and Shuo Sun came together for a time of 3:37.67 to nab sixth place. In the 'B,' Teran, Traggiai, Fass, and Johnathan Bandy (Saint Marys, PA/Saint Marys) took 12th overall with a total time of 3:49.07.

The fourth and final day of the SUNYAC Championships is tomorrow, Saturday, February 21. The preliminaries kick off at 10 a.m., with the last finals session of the week beginning at 5 p.m. that evening.

On the docket for Saturday night's finals are the 1,650 Yard Freestyle, 200 Yard Backstroke, 100 Yard Freestyle, 200 Yard Breaststroke, 200 Yard Butterfly, and 400 Yard Freestyle Relay. The awards ceremony for the four-day meet will follow the conclusion of the last event.