In considering the writing of the record book, the members of Penn State's 200-yard medley relay team acted as editors to their own work.

Starting off the events of the women's Big Ten swimming championships, the relay team of junior Sarah Haupt (backstroke), senior Kristen Woodring (breaststroke), junior Amberle Biedermann (butterfly) and senior Dee Dlugonski (freestyle) broke their own Big Ten conference and championship meet record of 1:39.22, set at last year's Big Ten meet, by swimming a time of 1:39.02. That time achieved an NCAA "A" cut, which guarantees a spot in the NCAA championship meet.

In a press release, Penn State head coach Bill Dorenkott said, "For those kids to come out firing was a testament to them. They stepped up, got the job done and, hopefully, they have set the tone for us in this meet."

Wednesday's events were limited to the finals in the 200 medley and 800 freestyle relays, but set an immediate tone for the Nittany Lions, who trailed incumbent Big Ten champion Michigan in the team standings by one point, 73-72. The Lions were followed by Wisconsin (67) and host Indiana (58). The 800 freestyle relay finished in a bit of a surprise, as Michigan (7:09.42) bested Wisconsin (7:11.93), who had won four of the last five conference titles in the event and was seeded first with a six-second advantage over the Wolverines. Penn State's relay team of sophomores Lauren Preyss, Erin Morris and Nikki Collins and freshman Molly Crispell finished in third place with a time of 7:16.23.

The first leg of Penn State's 800 freestyle relay, swum by Preyss, set a Penn State record and was faster than that of Wisconsin's anchor, Olympic champion Carly Piper, by 0.01 seconds.

The team continued its momentum in the preliminary session yesterday morning, flooding the top of the field in the 500 freestyle. Morris had the second fastest time in the event with the time of 4:44.09, an NCAA "A" cut and 10 seconds faster than her seed time.

Seven other Lion swimmers placed in the top 16 in the 500 free preliminary event: sophomores Margy Keefe, Claire Hawley, Megan Palera and Collins; Crispell; junior Patty Murphy and senior Meredith Holman.

Stanchock, Biedermann and senior Larissa Kavchok all placed in the top 16 in the preliminary 200 individual medley. They finished fourth, ninth and 10th, respectively, and competed in the finals of the event against preliminary winner Justine Mueller of Michigan as well as a duo of Badgers in Andrea Wiesner and Anna Trinidad, who finished second and third, respectively.

In yesterday morning's final preliminary, Dlugonski jumped to the forefront of the 50-yard freestyle event, winning the preliminary event in 22.80, an NCAA "A" cut. Racing in the 10th of the 13 preliminary heats, she beat out top-seeded Kaitlyn Brady of Michigan in incredibly close results that saw the four top times separated by 0.06 seconds. Preyss secured the seventh-fastest time by swimming 23.08. The top 16 finishers in each preliminary go on to the finals of that event.

The 200 freestyle relay, 500 freestyle, 200 IM and 50 freestyle finals took place late last night.

Commenting in a press release, Dlugonski said of winning, "It puts a little more [pressure] on because every other girl in that heat is capable of going faster tonight. So I just have to go out there and swim."