Ranked No. 1 in the East, the women's swimming and diving team completed its best dual-meet season since 1986-87 with a 165-135 victory over Ohio State on Friday.

The win, the ninth in a row for the Lady Lions, tied the best record in dual meets under Coach Bob Krimmel with a 9-1 record. It was also the sixth time in as many meets that the team beat its Big Ten opponent. Penn State now stands at 7-1 against Big Ten teams.

"We were really happy that we could win against Ohio State," Lori Williams said. "We showed them that we could contend against the Big Ten."

"It was a meet we couldn't afford to rest people," Krimmel added. "I felt they were going to swim their best meet against us."

Williams picked up a win in the 200-yard backstroke at 2:11.42. and came in second in the 100 backstroke at 1:00.30. Janet Worobel beat Williams in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:00.20.

Williams also helped lead the 400 medley relay team to a victory. Amy Weiss, Jen Baird and Fran McDermid combined with Williams to finish with a time of 4:00.16. The Lady Lions finished 1-2 in the event as Sheri Turner, Beth Haas, Deb Wilder and Jane Kleiderlein placed in 4:00.65.

The team also took first and second in both breaststroke events, with Sheri Evey the main attraction. The sophomore came in first in the 100 with a time of 1:09.06, beating freshman Amy Weiss' 1:09.17. Evey came in second in the 200 with a time of 2:28.85, losing only to Megan Smothergill, who had a time of 2:25.48. The success of the breaststrokers was a little of a surprise, since it was the first time the team swam in a pool without gutters along the turn walls.

"I felt pretty fast," Evey said. "You had to get around faster."

The walls were also supposed to affect the butterfliers. But, Jen Wilson came in second in the 200 (2:05.04) and Baird did the same in the 100 (58.86).

It was an average day for All-American Kristin Lilly. She won the 200 freestyle in 1:51.49 and came in second in the 100 freestyle at 52.47.

The distance freestyles, which featured Lady Buckeyes' All-American Susan Gottlieb, were predicted to be key events in the meet. Heather Nicholson was right behind Gottlieb in both the 500 and 1000 and came in second with times of 5:03.99 and 10:18.87, respectively.

"This was a meet that I just wanted to get out with a victory," Krimmel said. "Ohio State swam their best meet."

The diving team held its own against one of the best divers in the nation, Lori Gaddis. Gaddis won both boards, but Amy Schmidt and Lara vonSeelan were close behind. Schmidt finished second on the 1-meter board with a score of 165.50 and von Seelan came in second on the 3-meter at 162.95.

"We were real solid on both boards," diving coach Craig Brown said. "Lara and Amy were right in the thick of it."

Brown said the divers sent a meesage to the Big Ten divers.

"The message was more important to the Big Ten," Brown said. "The Northeast zone doesn't get the recognition it deserves."

The Lady Lions now have two weeks to prepare for Easterns. After an opening meet loss to North Carolina, the team has accomplished all its regular season goals.

"They put in a lot of hard work," Krimmel said. "It's definitely been a year when a lot of people contibuted to the success."