It's hard to achieve such a dominating performance as the Penn State women's swimming and diving team did last weekend at their tournament in Charlottesville, but it's an entirely different challenge to repeat that success. This weekend, however, the Nittany Lions will try to do just that, as they serve as host to the Big Cat Invitational.

The invitational will be the first home event for the Lions in the 2006 season, and will begin today at 5:30 p.m. Play will resume Saturday morning and also Sunday morning, culminating in a three-day event that will have a big impact on the rest of the season.

Last weekend, the Lions were dominating, capturing 11 first place finishes, and also winning all three dual meets. Excellent races were had by all swimmers, including junior Molly Crispell, who won the 200 freestyle, and senior Nikki Collins, who captured first in the 1000 freestyle.

Put some of the team members together and their strength and level of success merely gets larger. The relay teams dominated in all distances, and the relay team of freshman Michelle Myers, sophomores Abby Hoisington and Kelly Nelson, and Collins helped the Lions achieve a relay sweep by winning the 200 relay.

All of these swimmers and divers, as well as the rest of the team will be in action this weekend, and hope to continue their winning ways. The team boasts a 3-0 record, and will look to remain perfect.

After the invitational this weekend, the Lions will have a break for a couple of weeks, before competing in the Bell Grand Prix on November 23-25, in Toronto, Canada.

This weekend will prove to be a good test for the players, as they look toward their goal of capturing another Big Ten championship, and on to the NCAA Championships.