Penn State's senior swimmers celebrated their last collegiate meet at McCoy Natatorium Saturday by continuing a tradition they had participated in as freshmen --beating Pitt.

"It's nice to have a senior class that never lost to Pitt," Coach Bob Krimmel said after the meet.

The Lady Lions jumped out to a 44-10 lead after the first three events and never looked back, cruising to a 183-114 win over their cross-state rivals.

"It was a repeat of last week against Virginia, where we pounded them early and hung on to win," Krimmel said. "This time, we maintained the lead all the way through. When you get a big lead early, it takes some of the pressure off."

Krimmel used the meet against a weak Pitt squad to allow some of the swimmers to swim in secondary or off events. Sprint freestyler Deni Rudy swam the 200-yard freestyle and 200 free relay events, instead of her usual 50 and 100 free events.

Senior Janet Worobel, the school-record holder in the 100 backstroke, swam in the 100 butterfly and the 100 breaststroke instead of her usual backstroke events. Regan Stacey swam only the 200 and 500 freestyle events, instead of her usual 1000 freestyle, as she returned from a bout with the flu.

"Krim let the seniors swim whatever events they wanted," Worobel said. "We knew it would be kind of an easy meet, but everyone still worked hard. We always want to beat (Pitt), everyone swam really well and we were more energetic."

Between the early lead and the desire to send the seniors out with a win, there was no way the Lady Lions would let Pitt back into this meet.

"It was lots of fun for the team, and we swam well together," said Lisa Pastrana, who swam a lifetime-best in the 200 freestyle. "We wanted to be the first ones off the block and the first ones to the touch pads. We knew if we could keep our intensity throughout the meet, we were alright."

The intensity and confidence displayed by the entire team gave seniors Worobel, Shawna Woods, Jen Baird and Sharon Detering a great win in their last home meet.

"(The underclassmen and the crowd) gave us a big cheer and it felt like our day," Worobel said. "It's a little sad that this is the last time I'll swim in this place, but it's a happy time because we're moving on to a new stage in life."