It took two days and 20 events.

But, after its intense weekend of back-to-back sessions, the women's swimming and diving team was able to evaluate where it stands as the championship season draws closer.

In addition, the Nittany Lions picked up two wins along the way, knocking off Big Ten foes Indiana 207-163 and Michigan State 278-91.

"We're hitting on five out of eight cylinders right now, in terms of health, training and skills," head coach Bill Dorenkott said. "Over the course of the next two and a half weeks, we're going to have to be very attentive to staying healthy, improving on our skills, and getting focused on a total team effort at Big Tens."

These observations, and the resulting adjustments the team will make, were actually the purpose of the meet.

The competition was split into three sessions over two days in an attempt to emulate the three finals sessions at the Big Ten and NCAA championships.

"For us, it was a great opportunity to rehearse," senior Christina Stocki said. "It's like making a schedule almost. It's what we're going to have to do in two weeks."

After seeing some signs of fatigue during this weekend's meet, Dorenkott is now concerned with adjusting the team's taper before the Big Ten meet kicks off on Feb. 15.

Although the swimmers have been cutting down their repetitions in the weight room and reducing the intensity of their workouts in the pool, a few athletes showed they needed more rest than he originally thought.

"Some ladies trained harder and more consistently in the last 18 months than in their entire lives, and I think they need a lot of rest," Dorenkott said. "It's a combination of how they're riding in the water, how they split the races and how they are able to recover from session to session."

Despite this minor problem, the Lady Lions still put on an impressive performance. Freshman Corrie Clark was a triple-winner, placing first in the 200-yard individual medley (2:05.17), 100 butterfly (:56.60), and 200 breaststroke (2:16.63).

In addition, Katie Anderson won the 500 freestyle (4:55.22), Christina Frey took the 100 breast (1:05.53), Sally Anderson captured the 1650 free (17:04.16), and Jaime Jaax led the divers by finishing first in the three-meter competition (334.05).

According to Stocki, part of the team's success can be attributed to its fans.

The meet was the annual Family Day for the Lions, and the stands were full on Friday night and Saturday afternoon.

"Especially on the third session, when you're really hurting, it's nice to have the support behind you," Stocki said. "I've never heard the parents as loud as they were during this third session today."

Along with the individual winners, Penn State's relay teams also had a notable showing.

The Lady Lions' first-place finishes in the 200 free relay (1:34.21), 200 medley relay (1:44.55), and 800 free relay (7:35.25) were enough to impress Indiana head coach Dorsey Tierney.

"One thing Penn State did a fabulous job on were their relay starts," she said. "They were just fantastic on them. It showed us that they were something we need work on."

So, each team now returns to its regular practice schedule in order to apply the lessons it learned over the weekend.

"Dual meets don't have a lot of bearing on our successes and failures as a team," Dorenkott said. "This is going to be the fastest Big Ten meet in conference history. We have the opportunity to get the job done. We're going to have to come after it."