After suffering a tough loss to conference rival The State University of New York at Cortland Friday, SUNY New Paltz looks forward to securing a win against SUNY Purchase Wednesday.
 
The Red Dragons defeated the Hawks through a myriad of first place finishes, awarding them just enough points to win the meet. Although lacking in points, SUNY New Paltz was rich in successful individual performances, which it is eager to carry over into the duel-meet.
 
"There were some good races against Cortland. Overall it was a bit of a rough meet for us, but I think it's good motivation moving forward," said SUNY New Paltz freshman Mitchell Chappell. "I think we're all ready to go fast after a bit of a rough meet."
 
The Hawks continue their vigorous training during intercession by getting as many workouts in as possible before the spring semester begins. The swimmers spend about three and a half hours a day in the pool with additional dryland and weightlifting workouts scattered throughout their day.
 
"In practice we've been doing a lot of yards, a lot of drill work, a lot of race specific things to prepare for upcoming meets, and we're just trying to get better," said Chappell.
 
In the previous season, SUNY New Paltz defeated the Panthers on both the men's and women's sides, 79-51 and 90-75, respectively. The Hawks are confident in taking home a win for the second year in a row; SUNY Purchase has not secured a single win yet this season on either side despite facing six teams. The Panthers participate in the Skyline Conference rather than the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) despite being a SUNY school, making the meet refreshing for SUNY New Paltz.
 
The meet will be held in a non-traditional format, exchanging 100-yards of butterfly, backstroke and breaststroke for 50-yards. The 100-yard individual medley is another event that appears in the lineup that is not a regulated conference race. To add some fun to meet during the toughest part of the season, mixed gender relays are present in the program.
 
Many Hawks will appear in events that are far from their strong suit in order to experience a change in pace a month before SUNYACs. Cheering for one another during races is one of the Hawks' virtues, but SUNY New Paltz has been challenged by its coaches to be especially loud on deck in exchange for a practice taken off the schedule.
 
"We want to go really good times, but also have fun at the same time and be really loud," said freshman Victoria Bogdanski.
 
The Hawks will travel to Purchase, NY to swim off the Panthers Wednesday at 4 p.m.

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