Records are made to be broken. Just ask the Big Ten women's swimming teams.

The record books for the new Halloway Pool at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., will look a little different next time around, as every time-winning event at this past weekend's Big Ten Championships set a new pool record. Overall, 10 Big Ten Championship records were shattered and five all-time Big Ten records were broken.

However, the No. 14 Penn State women's swimming and diving team could not make a little history of their own, as the Nittany Lions failed to repeat as Big Ten champions, placing third behind the eventual champion Indiana Hoosiers. The Hoosiers finished with 595 points for the championship, while Wisconsin finished second with 561 and the Lions had 509.

Despite the third-place finish, Penn State swimming and diving coach Bill Dorenkott, who earlier had said he hoped his swimmers could look themselves in the mirror and be satisfied with their effort, was pleased with the reflection he got back.

"I thought we were terrific," Dorenkott said. "We really competed and came after people."

Not to be outdone, the Lions did make a dent on the record books, starting with the first event of the meet. The quartet of freshmen Amberle Biedermann and Sarah Haupt, sophomore Courtney Stanchock and senior Katie Hostetler won the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:39.41, breaking the Big Ten championship and all-time conference records. The Lions left their mark on the 400-yard medley relay as well, as the team of Biedermann, Haupt, Stanchock and sophomore Deidre Dlugonski set another Championship and conference record with a time of 3:36.39. Both times were the fastest in the nation to date.

"I knew our medleys were going to be tough," Dorenkott said. "But I didn't know they were going to be that tough."

Individually, Biedermann stole the show, as she won both the 100- and 200-yard butterfly with times of 53.54 and 1:58.08, respectively. Both victories set Championship and conference records, as Biedermann was named Conference Freshman of the Year for her efforts.

"She is a premier athlete and we were so fortunate she chose Penn State," Dorenkott said. "[The victories] are a credit to her and her ability to focus."

Fellow freshman Haupt also won in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 53.44, setting a Championship record.

For their efforts, Biedermann, Haupt, Stanchock, Dlugonski and Hostetler made the Big Ten All-Conference team.

On the diving side, Lisa Silvestri was the only freshman to make it to the finals of the one-meter event, placing an impressive sixth. However, she slipped out of the top 10 in the three-meter event, as did the rest of the Lion divers. Penn State diving coach Craig Brown attributed this to a lack of energy.

"On the one-meter we looked fresh and solid," Brown said. "We spent a lot of our emotional energy on the one-meter and were flat on the three-meter board."