Wednesday, Jan. 15, 1997

Swimwomen find solace in victory over Cavaliers

By DON WAGNER
Collegian Sports Writer

The women's swimming team lose to Ohio State, but rebound to beat the Cavaliers.

A thermometer measures temperature and a ruler measures length, but what measures character? For the Penn State women's swimming team all it took was a weekend to answer that question.

Lesley Spada swims in the 200 yd. backstroke for the Lady Lions against Virginia. The Lady Lions beat the Cavaliers 159-141 on Sunday. (Collegian Photo / Travis Frey - click for full size image)

After losing Saturday to Big Ten foe Ohio State, 160-140, the squad still had to face Virginia the next day. A loss on Sunday to the Cavaliers and the Lady Lions would be 0-2 for the weekend. That was something that coach Bob Krimmel said hadn't happened in a very long time.

So the Lady Lions dug deep and defeated the Cavaliers, 159-141, to salvage their weekend. The win not only boosted the team's confidence after the tough loss, it showed just what kind of character the group had.

"This was probably a critical win for us," Krimmel said. "It showed a lot of character."

Even though the Buckeyes defeated Penn State, there were several bright spots for the Lady Lions. Karna Lorhammer (100-yard breaststroke), Kim Kephart (400-yard individual medley) and Jaime Jaax (3-meter diving) all helped the Lions with first-place finishes. They were joined on the winner's podium by the 400-yard medley relay team of Dana Easton, Kristi Swix, Kelley Helt and Michelle Sharp.

The bitter taste left in the mouths of the Lady Lions by the loss to the Buckeyes was made a little easier to swallow because the two teams will meet again -- and soon.

"We have the opportunity in about a month to swim against Ohio State again in the Big Ten championships," Krimmel said. "Hopefully, we can turn the tables on them."

Even though the Lady Lions were down after the loss to Buckeyes, they definitely were not out. They still had to face Virginia the next day, and it would show what they were made of.

"I think that the big difference against Virginia was that we got the ball rolling right away," Eric Van Tassel said.

"We have the opportunity in about a month to swim against Ohio State again in the Big Ten championships. Hopefully, we can turn the tables on them."

- Lady Lions coach Bob Krimmel

That early jump combined with back-to-back 1-2-3 finishes in the 200-yard backstroke and 200-yard breaststroke put Penn State far enough ahead that Virginia never made up the lost ground.

The back-to-back 1-2-3 finishes by the Lady Lions were essential to Penn State's win, Krimmel said, because right before that, Virginia had closed the lead to just two points. The consecutive victories helped the Lady Lions increase their lead and coast to the win.

Outstanding performances were handed in by Lady Lions Kephart, Lorhammer and Van Tassel, whose win in the 200-yard backstroke was perhaps one of the most interesting stories of the day.

It is an event the senior tri-captain only began swimming in at the beginning of the season after spending her last three years in the freestyle events. The last time she had participated in any kind of backstroke event was high school.

"Karen always had a good backstroke," Krimmel said, "and we felt we were a little thin in the 200 back, and we said let's just take a look at her. It really started as an experiment."