During the first day of the NCAA swimming and diving championships in Indianapolis, the 400-yard medley relay team -- one of the men's swimming and diving team's best chances to score points -- finished 21st out of 22 teams.

This set the tone for the weekend as Penn State finished scoreless.

Leadoff man Nick Boyce slid off the wall in the 400 medley relay team and came to a virtual stop in the water, costing the Lions valuable seconds and their chance to place in the event.

Coach Peter Brown said that there was an illegal substance on the lane pad.

"Stick'um," which was outlawed last year, could be used to give a swimmer a better grip on a backstroke start. Instead of being able to curl their toes over the gutter in past years, swimmers must keep their feet flat against the wall.

Brown asked the official, who was surprised and unaware that anyone was using the substance. "I said, you aren't checking, what do you expect?"

"The 'stick'um really hurt Nick's ability to get the relay off to a good start," Brown said. "The lane he was in had a lot on one side and virtually none on the other. The way he placed his feet didn't give him good footing on the lane pad."

Earlier this season, Penn State swimmers saw North Carolina State backstrokers putting stick'um on the bottom of their feet at the Penn State Invitational. An inquiry by Brown turned up empty.

Brown said he is not sure if NCAAs officials will dissolve the rule since there were a lot of people violating the rule.

"It didn't really matter if you were using it or not -- the pads were so sticky that it didn't make a difference if you were using it or not."

Boyce, James Sloat, Thad Davis and Walter Sopp finished the event in 3:23.14, four seconds over the qualifying time.

Another race that Brown expected the Lions to do well in was the 400 freestyle relay. The team of Adam Carroll, Sopp, Ed Adelman and Drew Van Winkle touched the wall in 3:00.75, again for 21st place.

Penn State's highest national ranking would have came in the 200 medley relay from Boyce, Sloat, Davis and Sopp, who would have placed 19th in 1:31.34. But one of the swimmers jumped and the team was disqualified.

The Lions' team of Sopp, Carroll, Van Winkle and Thad Davis finished the 200 freestyle relay in 1:22.79 for 22nd place.

After the NCAA diving qualifying meet, D.J. Hill thought his Penn State diving career was over because he qualified as an alternate. Two days before NCAAs, the senior found out that a Pitt diver was unable to compete so he flew to Indiana the day before to compete on the three-meter board. He placed 23rd in what he called the most exciting meet in his collegiate career.

"This weekend gave me a whole new appreciation for diving," he said. "Twenty-third doesn't sound too good but you have to put it into perspective. I was competing against world class and Olympic divers so when you look at it that way and say that you are 23rd in the country, it doesn't sound bad at all."

In the individual swimming events, Boyce placed 27th in the 100 backstroke with 50.86 and 25th in the 200 backstroke with 1:51.33.

"I need to remember that everyone on those relays with the exception of Drew is coming back and that those relays are going to keep getting better and better over the next two years so we have a lot to look forward to," Brown said.

In the beginning of the year, the Lions weren't sure whether the team would qualify anyone for the championship meet, since 11 seniors graduated.

"We're not that far from making an impact nationally but it's got to be a concerted effort," he said. "Everyone has got to be on the money once we get to that meet."

Brown said that the Lions may have needed more work since the layoff from Easterns. Also, the team needs to keep a focus on what it wants to accomplish and needs to keep that in mind individually and relay-wise.