For the men of the Colgate swimming and diving team, victory was sweeter than it was for most. Coming off of five consecutive losses and a draining week of high-intensity practices, the dogged squad finally triumphed over New Hampshire in its home pool. In the team’s sixth meet of the season, the men swept its competition, 173-99, winning all but four events. Talk about a payoff.”Our men really stepped up,” head swimming coach Steve Jungbluth said. “They were hungry for a victory and they started the meet off like they had something to prove.”The team proved much, to say the least. Just shy of a lucky 13, the men’s team won 12 events and swept the 50-yard freestyle, taking the top three spots. Three career records were broken, and along with that the Raiders conquered both diving events.Facing rows of familiar faces, the team prepared itself for its sixth meet of the season. The cheerful chaos of the crowded, home meet atmosphere seemed inspiring.”The feeling on deck was great,” junior Greg Dunlavey, a backstroke record-holder, said. “We were extremely pumped for some great swims and performed really well. For the first time, most of our team was healthy; we were just ready to go.”The team’s results in the 400-yard medley relay sparked an powerful momentum that carried it through all the events. Junior James Silas set a personal record in his 100-yard fly leg of the event, while classmate Marc Falkner also broke his career best record for the 100-yard breaststroke in his split for the relay, touching in with a time of 59.78. The junior then went on to conquer both the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke events.Following the medley relay victory, in which the home team beat out its closest competitor by six seconds, senior Rich Derrick touched out his UNH opponent in the 1000-yard freestyle by a mere two seconds. For the team, it was a springboard.”We did what we had to do right from the first race, where we took first and second in the relay, including those two awesome swims,” senior co-captain Mike Gentithes said. “From there, Derrick’s win in the 1000 against some very tough competition provided us with a lot of confidence and momentum, which the team built on through the rest of the meet.”To no one’s surprise, senior Lane Ellis triumphed again with two first-place finishes in both the one-meter and three-meter diving events.Although the women’s squad did not fare as well, falling 186.5-113.5, the team rivaled the boys with several wins and season-best swims. Many Raider first-years shined on the day. Kacy Reams placed first in the 100-yard breaststroke with a season best time of 1:08.24, and classmate Colby Seamans won her first event with a 2:13.47 finish in the 200-yard I.M. First-year Magdalena Mango also broke a personal best record in her 100-yard fly event. Junior Emily McAuliff doubled up on blue ribbon performances, with wins in both the one-meter and three-meter diving events. The UNH women put up some stiff competition for the home squad, which was exactly what the Raider women had expected from such a strong team.”We knew going into the meet that UNH had a stronger team than they did last year,” senior Caitlin Craumer said. “They brought in some really fast recruits, which made a significant difference in their program. Nonetheless, we tried our hardest and put up some pretty good times.”For the men, it was a an example of the level of performance they wanted to produce at the Patriot League Championships (PLC’s). Although UNH did not prove to be the sternest competition for the team, swimmers agreed that it was by far the most successful meet of the season in terms of individual accomplishment. And in anxious anticipation for the PLC’s, this was exactly the type of result the men wanted to see. “After the first relay, every swimmer’s race was one of their strongest performances this year,” co-captain Greg Jachno said. “This meet is a sign that our coach’s training philosophies are working really well for accomplishing our ultimate goal, which is to have everyone swim personal bests in each of their events at the Patriot League Championships. The sole purpose of the in-season meets is to practice for the all-important PLC’s.”