In hopes of keeping its winning streak alive, the men's swimming and diving team travelled to West Virginia Saturday to face the Mountaineers and St. Bonaventure. The Lions were not disappointed by the final score which showed Penn State 70 and St. Bonaventure 45. The Lions also beat West Virginia, 67-46.

Penn State's fairly easy victories marked their sixth and seventh consecutive wins this season.

"Last season we had eight consecutive wins and that was the highest winning streak we have had in a long time," Coach Peter Brown said. "On paper, wins against WVU and St. Bonaventure were sure bets, but you never can be sure what might happen."

Penn State's 400-yard medley relay team was not too worried about the outcome of the meet as it coasted to a second-place finish in 3:30.5. The team of Walt Sopp, Steve Wukitch, Brent Matheson and Bruce Byrne finished just .6 behind the first place Mountaineers.

In long distance action, Brad Semle and Phil Meyer stole the show with a dazzling one-two finish in the 1000 freestyle. Semle touched the wall in 9:37.3 and was followed by Meyer in 9:40.1.

Dave Rafferty, Penn State's only individual double winner, displayed his speed by taking the 200 freestyle in 1:41.8 and the 500 freestyle in 4:43.5. Semle took third in the 500 freestyle in 4:45.9.

The best the Lions could manage in freestyle sprints, however, were fourth-place finishes in both the 50-yard and 100-yard events. Freshman Bill Hurst finished the 50 in 22.29 and Matheson, a senior, completed the 100 in 48.1.

The 200 individual medley was a high point of the day as Nick Boyce (1:56.5) and Craig Dies (1:56.8) touched the wall first and second, respectively. Ironically, Wukitch also swam the race and finished in an exhibition time of 1:55.4, which would have won the event.

Another peak for the Lions was Sopp's victory in the 200 backstroke in 1:56.4. He was followed by Randy Nixon, a senior, who touched the wall in 1:57.9 for second-place.

In diving action, D.J. Hill won the three-meter event with 185.7. Mike Westwood was runner-up on the high board with 174.2 points. Jeff Eagles (248.6) placed third on the one-meter board.

The team of Mike Miklus, Rafferty, Brian Wentzel and Sopp coasted to victory in the 400 freestyle relay in 3:03.8, two seconds slower than their time against LaSalle one week ago.

"West Virginia's pool is a physically attractive facility, but it is basically a pool that seems to make a lot of waves that slow down the swimmers," Brown said of Penn State's relatively slow times.

"We are also in a training phase that is sort of in limbo," he said. "The guys aren't resting and the times are staying where they are."

Twenty-three of twenty-six Penn State swimmers have qualified for the Eastern Seaboard Championship meet on March 3-5 at Harvard, but only eighteen are allowed to compete.

Brown expects to make his decision of which swimmers will be traveling to Easterns sometime today.

"Mike Klugo was the only one who qualified at West Virginia," Brown said of Klugo's effort in the 400-yard individual medley. "It's going to be hard to decide who to take, but it's a decision that has to be made."

Penn State will be in search of its eighth consecutive win against Boston University Saturday at McCoy Natatorium.