UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (Feb. 25, 2004) - The Penn State men's swimming and diving team will try to match their female counterparts' output when they begin competition Thursday at the Big Ten Men's Swimming and Diving Championships at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center in West Lafayette, Ind.

The Nittany Lion women finished second at the women's championships, which concluded Saturday in Minneapolis, Minn. The Nittany Lion men finished fifth last year and are poised to improve on that finish behind senior Todd Minnier (Avon Lake, Ohio) and junior co-captains Daryl Northrop (Verona, N.J.) and Mark Zucca (Hudson, Ohio).

The Big Ten and Purdue and provide up-to-date times, statistics and standings and a link will be available at www.GoPSUsports.com. The championships will kick off at 11 a.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday and will run through its conclusion on Saturday night.

Minnier returns to the championships after posting a pair of fourth-place finishes last year in the 50- and 100-yard freestyles in 20.23 and 44.07 seconds, respectively.

Minnier earned the Big Ten Swimmer of the Week honors back on Dec. 2.

Three Penn State divers, sophomore Mike Alderman (Arlington, Va.), junior Marc Gastaldo (Winslow, Maine) and sophomore Adam Pierce (Conroe, Texas) all picked up conference Diver of the Week honors this year and will be looked at to make some noise on the one- and three-meter boards. Gastaldo won the weekly conference honors twice this season.

For more information on Penn State men's and women's swimming and diving, please visit Penn State's official athletics website at www.GoPSUsports.com.