Coming off a long roadtrip to Minnesota and an intense week of training, the men's swimming and diving team's weariness finally caught up with them last Saturday.

So did the University of Virginia.

The Cavaliers (5-4), led by All-American Peter Wright, beat the Lions (2-2) 140-101.

Virginia took the top three spots in both the 500-yard freestyle and the 200-yard breaststroke. Wright captured first in both the 200 and 1,000 free -- which are back-to-back events -- and also took the 500 free. Cavalier Chris Graber came away with victories in both the 200 IM and the 200 breast.

The Lions entered the meet handicapped by the loss of sophomore Alex Cunha to the flu. Despite that setback, they were still able to triumph in key events.

Sprinter Greg Stacey won the 50 and 100 free with times of 21.3 and 47.3, respectively. Sophomore George Reimer swam tough in the 200 free, but was touched out by Wright. The 400 free relay team of Mike Przywozny, Reimer, Jason Eby, and Stacey finished first with a time of 3:08.2.

Lion Swimming Coach Peter Brown said although the loss was a little disappointing, the meet provided his swimmers with the chance to learn how to deal with tough competition.

"The team needed to get some work done this week that will benefit us toward the end of the season," he said. "In addition, Christmas training and our roadtrip to Minnesota hit us with a double whammy. We were tired and they were ready for us."

The divers on both sides performed impressively, although the Lions were diving without NCAA All-American Chris Devine, who was resolving graduation plans resulting from a change in the option of his major.

But Diving Coach Craig Brown said he was happy with his divers' performances.

"We were definitely sharper in the fall and we were lacking some accuracy," he said, "but we looked a lot stronger physically."

In the 1-meter dive, Virginia's Michael Gaughen and Steve Smith took first and third, respectively. Freshmen Drew Jackson placed second for the Lions.

Penn State's Seth Kane dove his way to a first-place finish in the 3-meter with a score of 299.03. Gaughen and Smith took second and third, respectively.