After an intense Christmas training program, the men's swimming and diving team took a road trip to Minnesota last weekend for a dual meet on Friday night. On Saturday, the team participated in the Gold Country Invitational, also hosted by Minnesota.

Minnesota came out ahead in the dual meet, 156-87.

Despite the loss, the Lions showed some strong performances. Sophomore Alex Cunha captured the team's only first-place finish, winning the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 1:53.6. Junior Chip Berry came away with two second-place finishes in both the 500- and 1,000-yard freestyle. Freshman Greg Stacey placed second and third, respectively in the 50- and 100-yard free.

Senior Chris Devine made some strong dives, coming away with a second-place finish in the 1-meter dive. Freshman Drew Jackson placed third in the same event. In the 3-meter dive senior Ryan Smith took second and sophomore Seth Kane finished third.

Swimming Coach Peter Brown said he felt the team made a solid effort.

"They swam well despite the fact they are tired from Christmas training," he added. "Penn State lost three or four close races which would have made the meet much closer. Overall they competed well and didn't back down."

Minnesota also captured the top spot at the Invitational with a score of 1,171. The Lions provided the team with its toughest competition, placing a close second with 932. Other schools that placed in the top six included St. Olaf (207), which finished third; St. Cloud (195), which finished fourth; and Gustavus Adolphus (96), which placed fifth. Rounding out the top six was Mankato State (86).

The Lions again swam and dove impressively. Cunha proved to be the star of the meet with first-place finishes in the 200- and 400-yard IM. His 200 medley relay team, which included Jason Gray, David Boardman, and Stacey, also placed first with a time of 1:35.41. Sophomore Mac Fraser also took first in the 200-yard butterfly. Brian Palme finished second in both the 100- and 200-yard back. Devine took second in the 1-meter dive with 555 points. Jackson also placed second in the 3-meter dive.

Brown said he thought the team had come back very strong for its second day of competition.

"Everyone gave it their best shot, swimmers and divers both," he added. "The team kept pushing through and racked up a lot of points."

Cunha said he felt the Lions held it together well as a team last weekend.

"We raced hard," he said, "despite not getting the times we might have expected."