Chris Devine surprised himself and his coach this weekend when he captured the 3-meter diving crown at the Big Ten Championships in Minneapolis, Minn. He contributed 36 of Penn State's 200 points. As a result, the Lions finished in ninth place, far behind first-place Michigan.

"If I had a chance to win a board, I would have figured it to be 1-meter," said Devine, who placed third in the 1-meter event. "I guess you could say I was surprised."

He wasn't the only one. Diving Coach Craig Brown said he knew his top diver was ready for the lower board, but he was unsure of what would be done in the other event.

"We didn't think 3-meter would click at that particular time," Brown said. "But he was ready to pop one this weekend. It was crunch time and it clicked."

Brown was dealt an additional surprise when he was honored as Big Ten diving coach of the year by his fellow coaches. Devine was ecstatic that his mentor finally received some well-deserved attention.

"It was such a great feeling when they called his name out," Devine said. "He's worked his butt off for this team. Finally. Finally, they recognized him for what he can do."

Swimming Coach Peter Brown did not have any similar successes, though. He knew going into the conference championship that Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio State and Iowa would compete for the top four spots. Brown had his sights set on a close performance behind those teams, but that was not the case.

"On paper, ninth place isn't that great," Brown said. "If everything went right, we could've finished one place higher. But it definitely was the fastest Big Ten meet ever."

Penn State swimmers did manage to set a few records, however. George Reimer set school records in the 1,650- and 500-yard freestyle events and teammate Mac Fraser entered the record books with his 200-yard individual medley performance. Alex Cunha also made the finals in the 200-yard butterfly.

The three freshmen are Brown's only hopes to make it to NCAAs, which are less than a month away.