It is possible to have too much of a good thing.

That's what women's swimming coach Bob Krimmel had to face when he decided which 17 swimmers from his loaded lineup would go to the Eastern Championships. The Lady Lions (9-1) will defend their Eastern Championship, Feb. 21-23 at Princeton. Penn State will be in search of its fourth title overall.

"You always have tough decisions when you get to this point of the season," Krimmel said. "But it's the nature of the sport."

Along with the 17 swimmers, defending Eastern diving champions Amy Schmidt (1-meter board) and Lara vonSeelan (3-meter) will be making the trip.

Three freshmen cracked the lineup and could make some noise at Princeton. Jen Baird, Amy Weiss and Janet Worobel will be a part of the Eastern hoopla in their first year.

"I'm a little more nervous than usual." I'm not really sure what to expect," Weiss said.

"It would be unrealistic to expect people not to be a little bit nervous," Krimmel added. "But hopefully it's a positive nervousness, because they've done what they needed to do to be ready to compete."

While Baird, Weiss and Worobel are competing in their first Eastern Championships, Jane Kleiderlein, Lisa Maximo, Deb Wilder and vonSeelan will compete in their last. It will also mark the final trip for Kristin Lilly, who has competed at Easterns all four years of her career, and is a 10-time Eastern Champion.

Most of Lilly's championships have come in relay events, in which Penn State should again be a dominant force. Krimmel, however, is still putting together the relay teams and said that some decisions may not be made until the day of the event.

Lilly has won four championships in freestyle events, and will look to win her third consecutive in the 200-yard event. She will also go for her second championship in three years in the 100, and try for her first in the 50.

The Lady Lions have always done well in freestyle in the postseason, and have a potent lineup to continue the tradition.

"Freestyle events have been strong for us all year," Krimmel said. "We should be able to continue that."

In the 50 freestyle, an experienced group of Lilly, Kleiderlein, Beth Haas, Fran McDermid, Christy Rourke and Tracey Sheleheda will try to get the Lady Lions their first first-place in the event. Lilly, Kleiderlein, Sheleheda and McDermid will swim the 100 while the 200 has Lilly and McDermid again, with Heather Nicholson and Suzi Sloan also competing.

This season, Nicholson broke her own Lady Lion record in the 1650 freestyle. She'll look to continue her outstanding performance in the distant events of the 500 and 1650. Sloan will also pull double-duty in those two events, with Jen Wilson competing in the 500 and Megan Smothergill in the 1650.

Wilson will try to repeat in the 200 butterfly, an event that the Lady Lions have won three consecutive years. Wilder and Baird will compete with Wilson in both the 100 and 200 butterfly.

Two of the freshmen will compete in the 200 individual medley. Baird and Weiss will compete with Lisa Maximo and Lori Williams in the event. Weiss and Maximo will also swim in the 400 individual medley along with Smothergill. The Lady Lions have not won an individual medley event at Easterns since 1986.

The backstroke has also proven to be a tough win historically. In fact, the Lady Lions will be looking for their first backstroke champion, and this could be the year they find one. Lori Williams has dominated the backstroke all season, and, along with Worobel, will compete in both the 100 and 200. Maximo will also swim in the 200.

The last time the team won a breast-stroke championship was 1985. But sophomore Sheri Evey has been coming on toward the end of the season, including a win in the 100 against Ohio State. Evey will be joined by Haas in the 100 and by Smothergill in the 200.

"Our hope is we don't have a weak event," Krimmel said. "Last year we scored well in every event in the meet, and everybody we took to Easterns scored for us."