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By JOYCE TOMANA
Daily. Collegian Sports Writer
The Penn State women's swim
-team plunges into competition
Saturday at the Pitt Relays and coach
Ellen Perry has a hard time trying
not to get. too optimistic about this
year's squad.
"This is the hardest working group
ever," Perry said. "This team is
practicing a hundred times harder
than any team we've ever had.
"The schedule is much stronger
this year. I don't know that we could
go undefeated, but it will be an ex
citing year all around."
Had it not been for a 76-55 loss to
Pitt last year, the Lady Lions would
have finished 'undefeated. The squad
posted a 10-1 record, one of the best in
Penn State • history. Highlight of the
season was a 66.63 upset over Prince
ton.
Five of the eight swimmers who
competed in the 1977 MAW. cham
pionships are back to anchor the
veteran squad. Perry expects scores
of individual and teams records,to be
broken.: The team is young but ex-
Jrienced, with two seniors, six
uniors, ' eight sophomores and nine
freshmen.
. •
Captains Janice Fischer and Cindy
Fry lead the squad. Fischer holds the
Penn State records in the 200 IM and
the ma freestyle; and swam on the
Eastern championship 200 freestyle
relay team. The senior was also a
national qualifier and AIAW All-
American last year.
Fry, a junior, was also an AIAW
national qualifier and All-American.
She holds all the. Penn State
backstroke records. As a freshmen,
she set new Penn State records in the
100, IM four times, 100 backstroke five
times, and the 50 backstroke twice.
Carol •Mazzer is one of the several •
sophomores back after as impressive
debut last season. She holds the Penn
State records in the 100 and 200
butterfly and swam on the record
• breaking 400 medley relay team.
Mazzer alsd made her way to
nationals.
Another sophomore, Tammy
Brush, is a consistant pbint-getter.
She swam on the record-holding 800
freestyle relay team. Brush is in
control of the Penn State records in
the 200 and 500 freestyle.
Perry is looking for her newcomers
to get their feet wet in the first few
meets while picking up the necessary
points. Three freshman swimmers:-
Mary Ellen Wydan, Sue Cosgarea and
Deb Keyser are High School All-
Americans. Cathy Lower may be the
one to watch of all the rookies.
"Cathris the strongest overall,"
Perrry said. "She has the most
potential. But the first year is a
learning year for freshmen. '
In diving, Penn State also has a
young and talented quartet of com
petitors. Coach Bob Goldberg's
diyers opened their season early in
November by taking the team honors
at the Penn State Invitational
Springboard Diving Championships.
Becky Binny, a sophomore, is the
defending Eastern Champion.
McNeill: Embarrassment is over
Future is 'greener' for swimmers
By KIM SMITH
Daily Collegian Sports Writer
This year marks the beginning of a
new era in men's swimming at Penn
State, according to coach Lou Mac Neill.
The new era was brought about by
recruiting funds which the team
received last year for the first time.
Mac Neill said that in the past, the Lion
tankers had lost to teams which never
should have beat them but that
situation should change now.
"As a coach, I've been embarassed
and humiliated," Mac Neill said. "Now
the embarassment is over because
we've received a limited amount of
money to recruit with."
The men's team, it seems, received
the money because of the women's team.
Women's sports teams are supposed to
be treated the same as men's teams,
Mac Neil said. So the Lady Lion
swimmers were receiving no financial
aid for recruiting just like the men.
But that made the swimwomen the
only Lady Lion team which received no
recruiting funds. The only way to give
the women the much-needed funds and to
keep things equal would be to give funds
to the men, too.
So last year, the men's swimming
team received recruiting aid for the first
time.
Although Penn State's swimming
team still is not in the same league with
Eastern heavies such as Pitt, Bucknell,
West Virginia or Maryland, they
shouldn't be embaraised any more by
losses to smaller teams, Mac Neill said.
The new era opens this weekend with
the Penn State Relays, probably the
largest pre-season swimming event in
the east.
The regular season opens Dec. 7 at
home against St. Bonaventure, to be
followed on Dec. 10 by a meet at Lehigh.
"Lehigh has beaten us the past two
years," Mac Neill said. "This year, if the
team swims well and continues to work
as hard as they have been, we should be
able to win we deserve to."
Along with his recruited-but-untested
freshmen, Mac Neill has several
returning swimmers whom he expects to
do well this season, including Bill Hieb,
the team's captain, competing in the 100
The Daily Collegian Thursday, December 1,1977--
and the 200-yard backstroke, Steve
Rode, last year's winner of the 200-yard
breaststroke in Easterns, freestylers
Brian O'Shea, Jon Reitz and Doug
King, and Lance Duffy, the 200 and 400-
yard individual medley swimmer who is
returning to the team after a year's
absence.
The diving team, however, is young
and inexperienced, with sophomore Pat
McFadden as the only returnee. The
team should be strengthened, under the
coaching of Bob Goldberg, with the
addition of several promising freshmen,
including Craig Brown.
In addition to dual meets, Penn State's
men's and women's teams have a
double-dual meet scheduled with
Rutger's men's and women's teams.
The tankers will meet Villanova Jan.
18, but after that, the season's results
are pretty well assured, according to
Mac Neill. And although Penn State still
does not pose much of a threat to the
Eastern powerhouses, Mac Neill is
satisfied to improve his team one step at
a time.