Last weekend, both the men’s and women’s swimming teams participated in dual meets against the University of Binghamton and the University of Massachusetts. The women came into the weekend with serious momentum, as they were riding a three-meet winning streak dating back to October. They faced off against the Binghamton Bearcats last Saturday and had little trouble disposing of their non-conference foes by winning, 193-101. The Raiders were led by junior Lisa Marchi, who scored wins in the 100 and 200 butterfly competitions, and sophomore SarahSciarrino, who placed first in both the 50 free and the 100 backstroke. The women also managed to bring home the victory in both the 400 medley relay and the 400 freestyle relay.

The women continued their run of success against UMass, as they were able to defeat the Minutewomen, 168-126. First-year Caren Guyett led the way for the Raiders in this one with wins in two separate events. She won the 1650 freestyle with a time of 17:46.96, which was almost 40 seconds ahead of her closest challenger. She also placed first in the 400 IM with an impressive time of 4:34.85. Junior Ashley Bottger, who was named the Women’s Patrot League Swimmer of the Week, also contributed to the Colgate cause by winning the 50 and 200 freestyle competitions with times of 24.46 and 1:55.39, respectively. Apart from these individual victories, the women were able to spur themselves to the overall win with first place finishes in both the 200 medley relay and the 200 freestyle relay. The win over UMass put the women’s overall season record at 7-3 and 2-1 in Patriot League play. Furthermore, Colgate has now won its last five dual meets heading into its next contest. The women will battle Army and Lafayette in a tri-meet at the Lineberry Natatorium on Saturday at 1 p.m. in preparation for the Patriot League Championship.

Meanwhile, the Colgate men entered last weekend with hopes of notching their first victory of the 2007-2008 campaign. With their overall record standing at 0-7, the Raiders hoped to brighten up what has been a difficult and arduous season. Unfortunately, the Raiders dropped their first meet of the weekend to Binghamton by the final score of 175-110. However, the Colgate loss did not come without some individual victories. Senior Zach Whitman was victorious in the 100 butterfly event with the final time of 53 seconds flat. He also placed second in the 200 butterfly and third in the 200 IM. First-year Devon Healy also had a strong meet, placing first in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:52.67 and finishing second in the 1000 freestyle. Binghamton was able to overcome these individual defeats with victories in the 400 medley relay and in the 400 freestyle.

The men fared a little better against UMass last Sunday, who handed Colgate its ninth straight loss with a sound 190.5-90.5 victory. First-year Trevor Healy won the 400 IM for the Raiders with a time of 4:18.88, while Whitman was able to bring home the victory for Colgate in the 100 butterfly with a final time of 52.18 seconds. The only other victory on the day for the Raiders came in the 200 freestyle relay. The loss put the men’s record at 0-9 for the season. Colgate faces off against Lafayette and Army in a tri-meet at the Lineberry Natatorium on Saturday at 1 p.m.