Wednesday, Jan. 29, 1997

Swimwomen knock off Hoosiers and find confidence

By DON WAGNER
Collegian Sports Writer

As the Penn State women's swimmers (5-4, 2-4 Big Ten) came together Saturday against Indiana for their routine pre-meet cheer, something was missing -- much of the team.

"When we pulled together for our team cheer at the beginning of the meet, the circle was so small one of the girls was like, 'Oh my god, no one is here,' " junior Erica Van Tassel said.

"It was a huge win. On paper it should never happened with all of the people we left behind."

- Bob Krimmel
women's swimming coach

With much of the team staying home due to injuries, the remaining Lady Lions showed that strength doesn't always come in numbers and beat the Hoosiers, 163.50-136.50, in Bloomington, Ind. In a season in which Big Ten wins -- and healthy swimmers -- have been hard to come by, this one was very important.

"It was a huge win," coach Bob Krimmel said. "On paper it should have never happened with all of the people we left behind."

For the Hoosiers, the meeting was like a sandwich with no meat. They provided the bread with wins in the first and last events, but Penn State provided the meat by winning almost everything in between.

"Everyone contributed," Penn State's Carmen Kondra said. "We were all on the same page at the same time."

In the day's first event, the women's 200 medley relay, the Hoosier team of Tracy Cook, Marnie Record, Jen Brooks and Sara Thomas out touched the Penn State team of Van Tassel, Lesley Spada, Arianne Adams and Karna Lorhammer. All that served to do was awake the sleeping Lady Lions.

In the very next event, the 1,000-meter freestyle, Penn State's Kim Kephart came in first place to continue the Penn State surge. But Krimmel said the biggest shock to the Hoosiers in the 1,000 meters was provided by Marion Wakeley, who came in fifth.

"Fifth place was a shock to them because on paper they should have won that point," he said.

Following the 1,000 was the 200-meter freestyle, and the Lady Lions' gutsy performances continued. Sarah Jay, swimming with an injured back, and Kondra, swimming in the 200 for the first time all year, finished one-two, respectively.

From there, Penn State continued to dominate, as Indiana only managed four more wins in the next 11 swimming events. The Hoosiers also mustered wins in both of the diving events, but that mattered little as they had already lost the meet.

The win brought much needed confidence to a Penn State team that has been down in both numbers and spirits in recent weeks.

"We needed this win for our mindset," Kondra said. "It really boosted our confidence."

And with that confidence boost, something has reappeared poolside that Krimmel said had been absent recently.

"It was nice to see them smiling. Those smiles were a bit harder to find a few weeks earlier."