The records continue to fall underfoot for the Penn State women's swimming team. A month ago, the team set a school record of 693 points at the Big Ten Championship meet. Performances at that competition helped a school-best 14 Nittany Lion swimmers earn berths to the NCAA Championship meet at Purdue University, taking place today until Saturday.

Despite being ranked No. 14 in the latest College Swimming Coaches Association of America poll, Penn State will have the fifth largest squad, trailing Georgia, Auburn, Florida and Texas. Coincidentally, those teams rank No. 1 through No. 4, respectively, in the CSCAA poll.

"Were keeping some company with some pretty good people," Penn State coach Bill Dorenkott said. "If we take care of each race as it comes and each session, [we'll be] ready to go. We don't have a lot of control over place."

In holding with the season's theme of balance, the team is comprised of both veterans and youth, with at least one swimmer competing in 16 of 18 swimming events. For seniors Kristen Woodring, Courtney Stanchock and Dierdre Dlugonski, this will be their fourth NCAA Championship. On the other side of the coin, sophomores Nikki Collins, Claire Hawley and Lauren Preyss, as well as seniors Meredith Holman and Lauren Semchyshen will be competing in their first. The distance swimmers, breaststrokers and medley relays should be strengths for the Lions.

Six Lions will compete in both the 500- and 1,650-yard freestyle events. Sophomore Erin Morris is seeded eighth in the 500 free with a time of 4:42.17, and Claire Hawley is the 12th seed in the 1,650-yard event (16:16.59). Though this group doesn't crowd the top of the seedings like it had at the Big Ten meet, some of swimmers did not taper completely, saving their best performances for this week.

"We had a handful of kids that went through the Big Tens unshaved. We like to leave a little bit left in the tank," Dorenkott said.

It will be the last go-round for the breaststroke duo of Woodring and Stanchock, who are seeded 13th and 14th in the 100-yard event with 1:01.41 and 1:01.55, respectively. Top-seeded Sarah Poewe of Georgia qualified with a time of 59.58. Two seconds is an eternity in such a short event, but both Lions swimmers have swum faster times than their seed times, including Woodring's 59.96 at the 2001 NCAA Championship meet. The medley relay team of Haupt, Woodring, Biedermann and Dlugonski may benefit from the meet being held in the Boilermaker Aquatic Center. At the 2003 Big Ten Championships, which were hosted by Purdue, this team set pool records in both the 200- and 400-yard medley relays, with respective times of 1:39.41 and 3:36.39. The 200-yard event will be one to watch. The Lions are seeded third with a Big Ten record time of 1:39.06.

"Relays are awfully important. [They] count for double the points," Dorenkott said. "I think we have a shot to score all five [relays]."

Biedermann holds records in the 100- and 200-yard butterfly, and Haupt set a record in the 100-yard backstroke. Both will compete in those events this week.