When Walter Sopp, anchor in the 400-yard freestyle relay, hit the water, the outcome of the meet, tied 113-113, was up to him.

Unfortunately for the men's swimming team, Drew Van Winkle, Adam Carroll and Nick Boyce gave him a half second to make up. At one point Sopp looked to have gained the lead, but Pitt finished .08 ahead of Penn State and won the meet, 124-119.

"I went in behind and didn't swim a smart race," Sopp said. "There were mistakes that I would have taken back."

Even though Penn State's second relay team placed third, it could not make up the difference because the relay scoring scale is 11-4- 2.

"Even though we lost the last relay, we had two teams with times under 3:09," James Wolfle said. "I can think of very few teams who would be able to do that."

Although a little disappointed, Coach Peter Brown said the meet will help the Lions in the long run.

"Their coach swam a smart line-up and they swam and dove well," Brown said. "We had to hit them on all fronts in order to win. It was one of the best meets I've ever been in."

Penn State won only five of the 13 events.

Bright spots for the Lions came from freshmen James Sloat and Carroll. Sloat's victory (2:08.52) in the 200 breaststroke boosted the Lions into a tie with Pitt. Carroll touched out a Pitt swimmer by .17 to win the 500 freestyle.

"It was my first college meet that really came down to the wire," Carroll said. "I got touched out a lot this season so I just didn't want to lose the race."

Carroll said his time of 4:38.08 is where he wants it at this point in the season. He expects to be around 4:30 by the Eastern Seaboard Championships on Mar. 1-3.

Sopp paced the Lions with victories in the 100 and 200 freestyle events in 46.36 and 1:41.54, respectively.

"I'm happy with the races but there is always room for improvement," Sopp, a junior, said. "I felt that I could beat anyone they threw at me in the 100 but I was a little more skeptical in the 200 free."

In the 200 free, Sopp was backed by Carroll, who cruised to second in 1:42.28.

Wolfle, the Lions' top butterflier, said he knew he could win the 200 butterfly if he paced himself the first 100 yards. He won the event by .21 in 1:55.09, his fastest unshaved time.

"Going into the race I knew I had a really good chance of winning because their top flyer and I have about the same time," Wolfle, a senior, said. "I was right with him after the first 100 and was just able to get him in the last 50."

Brown and Sopp said Penn State is not discouraged and will come out slugging for its three remaining meets this month.

"The younger guys probably did a little growing up and that's important," Brown said. "Some of the guys are probably a little upset about losing, but we had a good meet and they should feel good about it."

"This isn't the last meet or the biggest meet of the season," Sopp agreed. "We dug ourselves a hole but we fought back and showed a lot of character. If we can do that next week against Virginia, it will be another good meet."