FROM THE BLOCKS: After taking a week off from competition, the Colgate men's and women's swimming & diving teams travel to Hanover, N.H. for their last outing in 2009. On Sunday, Colgate will take on Dartmouth in a meet scheduled for 11:00 a.m. at Karl Michaels and Spaulding Pool. Both Dartmouth teams are 0-2 on the season and will swim Navy and Brown the day before competing with Colgate.
SCHEDULED EVENTS: 200 Medley Relay, 1650 Free, 200 Free, 100 Back, 100 Breast, 200 Fly, 50 Free, One-Meter Diving, 100 Free, 200 Back, 200 Breast, 500 Free, 100 Fly, Three-Meter Diving, 400 IM, 200 Free Relay.
WOMEN NOTES
LAST TIME OUT: Colgate posted its first victory of the year with a 176-111 victory at Boston College, November 7 and then fell 184-114 to Boston U the following day. Erin McGraw won four events versus the Eagles, while Lia Kunnapas was a triple winner. Four other Raiders were double winners. Colgate reclaimed the lead by posting a one-two finish in the 100 breast – one of five top two finishes on the afternoon. The Raiders swept the 200 back as Sarah Button led the charge. In all, Colgate won 12 of the events. Colgate only claimed four firsts against the Terriers. Lia Kunnapas was the lone double winner for the Raiders as the freshman swept the 100 and 200 back events. Erica Derlath (1000 free) and Caren Guyett (500 free) were the other wins versus Boston U. The Raiders fell to 1-3 overall.
PL DIVER OF THE WEEK: Kim Pilka was named the Patriot League's Female Diver of the Week, November 10. The freshman posted a pair of firsts and a pair of seconds in the weekend at BC and BU. Pilka doubled versus the Eagles with scores of 246.40 off the one-meter board and 258.60 in the three-meter competition. On Sunday, despite a second place effort, she posted a season best 263.32 from the three-meter board.
ALL-TIME ADJUSTMENTS: In the three meets thus far, Colgate has posted six performances that have found their way on the top 10 lists in the program's history.
Swimmer(s) Event Time Place
Kunnapas, Santoro, McGraw, Guyett 400 MR 3:50.48 6th
Erica Derlath 1650 17:05.37 3rd
1000 10:20.04 5th
Lia Kunnapas 200 Back 2:03.74 8th
Erin McGraw 100 Free 51.51 10th
100 Fly 55.31 10th
LAST YEAR AGAINST DARTMOUTH: Colgate posted 11 event wins en route to posting a convincing 159-82 victory over Big Green, November 16 at Lineberry Natatorium. Emily Murphy, Bev Walker, and Caren Guyett were all triple winners, while Erica Derlath, Lisa Marchi and Ashley Bottger posted two victories in the win. The Raiders claimed the top three finishes in the 200 breast, 400 IM and 500 free
2009 PATRIOT LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP: Colgate won its second consecutive Patriot League title by lapping the field in the three-day event at Kinney Natatorium on the campus of Bucknell. The Raiders captured firsts in 14 of 18 swimming events; collected 862 points and won the title by 102.5 points over Navy. The point total was the second highest ever in the three-day event. In all, Colgate achieved school records in every swimming event; broke 14 league and meet records, and erased 11 pool records.
PICKED FIRST IN PRESEASON POLL: Colgate received 14 of 16 first place votes en route to being named as the pre-season favorite in the Patriot League. The Raiders a massed 98 points, while Navy was second with 86.
WHAT'S BACK: Last year, Colgate dominated the all-league teams having 13 student-athletes named to either the first or second team. Nine of these 13 return to the lineup for 2009-2010, including five first teamers and two individual league title winners. Juniors Caren Guyett (400 IM and 200 fly) and Erin McGraw (100 fly and 200 back) headline the returnees. Joining the tandem as returning first team honorees include Emily Kelly, Erica Derlath, and Caitlin Curran. Colgate's four second team honorees – Emily Peck, Courtney Callahan, Jenna Daly and Sarah Button also return.
WHAT LEFT: Four important cogs to the Patriot League title team have graduated. Emily Murphy, Ashley Bottger, Lisa Marchi, and Bev Walker were all first team all-league performers. Murphy became the first-ever swimmer in school history to qualify for the NCAA Division I Championships and competed in the 100 breast. As a senior, she claimed league titles in the 100 and 200 breast events. Bottger was the league champion in the 100 free, while Walker copped the 200 back. Marchi had a few top five finishes to gain first team accolades by points.
MEN'S NOTES
LAST TIME OUT: Colgate fell to 0-3 with a pair of losses in Boston. The Raiders suffered a tough 151-149 decision to Boston College and then were downed by Boston U 190-105 on November 7 and 8 respectively.
Against Boston College, the Raiders claimed seven races. Dan Sweeney (50 free, 100 free and 400 free relay) was a triple winner, while Costas Hadjipateras (200 free, 400 free relay) and Tucker Gniewek (100 fly, 400 free relay) each claimed two races. Gniewek led a one-two-three sweep in the 100 fly, while Teddy Perley and Tyler Coolman claimed the top two spots in the 100 breast. Colgate needed to post first and third in the final event to win the meet, but came up short as the Eagles finished second and third in the 400 free relay.
Colgate tallied four first-place efforts versus Boston U the following day. Once again, Dan Sweeney flexed his muscles with a pair of first place efforts (50 free and 400 free relay). Costas Hadjipateras (200 fly) and Casey Powers (500 free) recorded the other two individual first place efforts. Sweeney set a Colgate freshman record in the 50 free touching with a winning time of 21.14. The former mark was 21.19 set by Tucker Gniewek. Ironically, Gniewek finished second in the 50 equaling his former freshman record. The foursome of Gniewek, Sweeney, Hadjipateras and Robert Rutkowski swam the seventh best time in school history with a 3:08.08 to claim first overall.
LAST YEAR VERSUS DARTMOUTH : Colgate claimed nine events en route to posting its first win of the season with a 143-98 victory over Dartmouth at Lineberry Natatorium. Costas Hadjipateras, Devon Healy and Tucker Gniewek were all triple winners. Healy led one-two-three sweeps in the 500 and 1650 events and Colgate claimed the top two performances in the 50 free and 400 free relay. The Raiders successfully avenged a 170-124 loss at the hands of Big Green from the previous season.
WHAT'S BACK FROM LAST YEAR: Thirteen lettermen, including two all-conference performers, return off last year's 2-8 squad. Tucker Gniewek, a first team all-Patriot League selection in 2008-09, posted three top five finishes (third in the 50 free; 4th in the 100 free; 5th in the 100 back) at the league championships. Junior Devon Healy was a second team all-conference performer after placing sixth in the 400 IM and seventh in the 200 IM. Gniewek (50 and 100 free, 100 back), Healy (200 and 400 IM), as well as sophomores Patrick White (200 free) and Costas Hadjipateras (200 fly) all hold school records.
WHAT'S NEW: Colgate added four newcomers to the roster for the 2009-2010 season. The recruiting class was headlined by Dan Sweeney (New Cannan, Conn.). He was a four-time all-state, all-county, all-FCIAC and all-American at New Cannan High School, where he was a member of three state title teams. Nicholas Pawlush (Hummelstown, Pa.) is the second swimmer of the group. He was a four-time all-conference, all-district and all-state honoree at Hershey High School. The Raiders added two divers to the roster in Nick Burkus (Weston, Mass.) and Tyler Makepeace (Wallingford, Conn.). Burkus placed ninth at the Massachusetts Division II State Championships his junior season, while Makepeace placed first at the 2009 New England Prep School Diving Championships at Choate-Rosemary Hall.
2009 PATRIOT LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP: Colgate finished in fifth place at the 2009 Patriot League Championships, only four points behind Saturday's opponent Lehigh. The Raiders set school records in eight events and narrowly missed erasing the 1650 mark. Seven freshmen school records also fell in the three-day event. Colgate posted nine top-10 efforts and finished second in the final event of competition, the 400 free relay, its best finish ever.
PICKED FOURTH PRESEASON: Colgate was chosen to finish fourth according to league coaches and swimming SID contacts in the Patriot League's preseason poll. The Raiders collected 57 points which was a few points ahead of Lehigh.
