On the final home meet for the Penn State men and women's swimming and diving teams, the McCoy Natatorium was louder than usual. Maybe it was presence of powerhouse Rutgers. Or maybe it was the thunderous roar that the 10 seniors received from the crowd.

One thing was for sure. Senior Day for the Nittany Lions proved to be a day to remember, as both the men and women were able to defeat visiting Rutgers. The men defeated the Scarlet Knights, 204-88, while the women won 195-105.

The women, fresh off of a 141.5-98.5 victory against Ohio State on Friday, continued their dominance against a powerful No. 22 Rutgers team. The 15th ranked Lions (7-0) took first in 12 of the 16 events held, and were able to hand the Rutgers women their first loss of the season.

Sophomore Karie Haglund captured first in both the 100- and 200-meter butterfly events, including setting a McCoy Natatorium record with a time of 1:59.93 in the 200-meter fly. The previous record was set with a time of 2:00.48, and stood for almost five years before Saturday.

Along with Haglund, sophomore Sarah Baker achieved her season-best time in the 500-meter freestyle, clocking in with at 4:55.83. Junior Molly Crispell, senior Jessica Barnes, and Baker controlled the 200-meter freestyle event, taking first through third, with each swimmer finishing in less than two minutes.

While there were a number of underclassmen swimmers who earned top finishes, it was the senior class that shined. During its final home meet, the senior class captured multiple first place finishes, as some also improved their overall best times. Senior Claire Hawley finished first in the 1,000-meter freestyle, while senior captain Nikki Collins finished second with a time of 10:02.95. Collins' time was her personal best for the event, and it was nearly five-and-a-half seconds better than her previous best.

The men captured an even more convincing win against Rutgers, with seniors Mike Alderman and Dan Kaiserian leading the way for the Lions, and with the help of juniors Sean Biedermann and Pat Bukowski, were able to win 15 of the 16 events.

Alderman, in his last home meet, had his highest point total of the year in the three-meter at 362.45 and his second highest score in the one-meter at 335.63, sweeping the men's diving events. Bukowski helped complete the dominance by posting his second highest score in the three-meter diving event with a score of 224.25.

Kaiserian on the other hand helped the team place second in the 200-yard medley relay and fourth in the 400 yard freestyle relay. Individually, Kaiserian placed second in the 100-yard butterfly.

"The Nat was a lot louder than usual," Kaiserian said. "It was definitely an emotional event for everyone in the crowd and for myself."

Junior Sean Biedermann, competing in his first match this season, led the men's team to two first place finishes, one in the 100-yard breast stroke with a time of 59.38 and 100-yard freestyle with a time of 46.34. He also helped the men's team place first in the 400-yard freestyle relay team.

The Lions will have one more meet before heading to the Big Ten Championships. They will travel to South Bend, Ind., to take part in the Shamrock Invitational on Jan. 26 and 27, along with UConn, Oakland, and West Virginia. Kaiserian is confident that the team will continue their winning ways and loves to use meets as motivation to continually get better.

"We go in with more confidence and are looking forward to competing against high caliber teams."