For the women of the Raider swimming and diving team, the meet against Lafayette came, quite literally, down to the last second. Although the squad dropped the meet, 155-144, in the last relay event, the day included some record-breaking performances.

The first-year squad of Magdalena Mango, Kacy Reams, Colby Seamans and Allie Lenci set a new Colgate first-year record for the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 4:04.48. Mango, Reams and Seamans all went on to set personal records in each of their respective events, with Seamans breaking her own backstroke records with a 2:09:97 in the 200-yard and 1:01:82 in the 100-yard event.

“When we broke the [first-year] relay record, we were just really pumped and excited to have done it together,” Lenci said. “It was just a fun race that I think we were all really happy to be a part of.”This was the closest meet the Raider team had been involved in thus far this season, as Lafayette had a squad of talented swimmers that provided some challenging competition for Colgate. Like any good meet, this showdown was riddled with anxiety and heightened intensity. The score seesawed throughout, with both teams in the dark as to the outcome.

“The meet was extremely close score-wise throughout,” Seamans said. “Everyone was cheering and screaming during all the races; we were all getting into the meet, which was incredibly fast paced.”The women’s team won seven events, including junior Emily McAuliff’s one-meter diving victory. Senior Jen Busby took second in that event, and both divers went on to repeat their respective first- and second-place performances in the three-meter event.

Reams took the 100-yard breaststroke, while junior Amy Cole outpaced her opponent in the 1,000-yard freestyle by two seconds. Junior Katherine del Prato beat out her closest competitor as well, also by two seconds, in her 500-yard freestyle event.

And then there was the last relay – the final summit, a 200-yard freestyle sprint. Colgate was well equipped with a team of sophomore Danielle Graham, senior Caroline Curtis, del Prato and Lenci. “The last relay was really intense,” said Lenci, the anchor for the last relay. “Everybody was up cheering and the atmosphere was absolutely crazy. Unfortunately we lost by .29 seconds, which was disappointing, but I think we gave it our all.”

Victory, however, was there for the men’s team to claim, as the Raiders breezed through the meet to defeat Lafayette, 176-122. The men’s squad won 10 events, with junior Marc Falkner besting his time in the 100-yard breaststroke with a split of 59:16 in the relay. He then went on to win his three individual events.

Senior diver Lane Ellis swept both the one- and three-meter diving events, while senior Rich Derrick touched in first in his two freestyle events. Sophomores Andrew Kodesch and Dani Compain also pitched in to the hefty pile of blue ribbons, with first-place finishes in the 200-yard butterfly and 200-yard freestyle, respectively.

With the Patriot League Championships getting closer, the anticipation has been building for the all-important event. The pay-off for all the hard work and dogged perseverance has finally arrived in a package of numerous personal-best times.An enthusiastic Lenci commented on the team’s end-of-the-season performances.

“Everyone is coming together really well,” Lenci said. “We are all getting really excited for some fast swimming in a couple of weeks. We have prepared so much and have worked so hard; I think we’re definitely ready.”

For Seamans, the confidence is also there – but success lies elsewhere.”There are a lot of great teams in the Patriot League, and the PLC’s are anyone’s meet,” she said. “I don’t know the outcome, but no matter what our place is in the end, as long as everyone gave it their all, had fun and dropped times, as a team we will walk away knowing that we swam a good meet.”