Three Penn State men's swimmers achieved provisional "B" cut times for the NCAA championship meet during yesterday's preliminary competition at the Big Ten Championships in Minnesota. No points are handed out for preliminary results, only the finals of each event. Freshmen Sean Swanepoel and Sean Bidermann, along with senior Daryl Northrop, advanced to the finals of their respective events, where they will look to score points for the Nittany Lions.

Swanepoel and Northrop achieved "B" times when they made the finals of the 50-yard free. Swanepoel placed eighth in preliminaries with a time of 20.24 seconds and Northrop ninth with 20.25. Freshman Sean Biedermann reached the finals of the 200-yard IM with a "B" cut time of 1:49.43. Swimmers who achieve "B" times are considered for an invitation to the NCAA Championships in late March. Swimmers have the opportunity to achieve faster "A" cut times, which would guarantee them a spot in the national championship meet.

Two Big Ten swimmers broke their own conference meet records during yesterday's competition in Minneapolis.

Northwestern sophomore Matt Grevers duplicated his performance from last season when he set a new meet record in the 50 free. Grevers set the record in last year's prelims with a time of 19.44 seconds, and bettered that time yesterday with a 19.35.

Purdue senior Louis Paul broke his own meet record after he set a personal best yesterday in the 200 IM, finishing first with a time of 1:44.65. He swam his previous best during last season's Big Ten meet with a time of 1:45.56.

The Lions continue competition today and tomorrow when they compete in the prelims and finals of the remaining 16 events.

-- By Corey McLaughlin

Penn State's Luis Vargas will miss this weekend's meet versus Ohio State to compete in the 2005 American Cup at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Long Island in New York. The American Cup preliminary competition will be held today, with the finals beginning at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow.

Vargas, last year's NCAA all-around champion, will compete in three events at the American Cup: pommel horse, horizontal bar and parallel bars. He currently leads the collegiate ranks in the all-around and on the pommel horse in this, his last year of collegiate competition. This week's Big Ten Gymnast of the Week, Vargas will represent his native Puerto Rico this weekend at the American Cup.

The 2005 American Cup will be televised live on NBC Sports from 4-6 p.m. tomorrow.

The latest USFCA results have announced the Penn State fencing team in the top three on both sides. The men's squad took over first place with Ohio State dropping to second. The women are strongly in third, with Ohio State again dropping to second, as Notre Dame tops the chart.

Last year, the men's and women's fencing teams finished the NCAA Championship in second place with eight All-Americans. The team's overall finish added to its career record of never having placed lower than second since 1990's first combined fencing championship.

Penn State looks to defeat 2004 champion Ohio State to win its 10th combined NCAA championship in 15 years.

The Nittany Lions will compete in the Mid-Atlantic and Southern Regional Championships, March 5-6. The NCAA Championship is scheduled for March 17-20.