(RESULTS) New Paltz, NY -- From before the first event's starting buzzer sounded, it was clear the State University of New York at New Paltz swimming team was determined to collect a win against rival SUNY Oneonta. The meet was comprised of a myriad of close races and tight finishes, and was highlighted by two broken pool records, as the Hawks edged out their competition for a 113-85 win on the women's side and 109-96 win for the men.
 
The exhilaration and eagerness was felt as SUNY New Paltz walked out before the meet's start for a brief ceremony honoring its senior class. The underclassman paid tribute to Nicole Lee, Yaya Toure, Katie Donlevy, Jaimie Kaefer, Degen Mariniello, Whitney Knowlton-Wardle, Rory Neal, Joseph Galante, Matthew Kessler, and Barrett Celecki. After recognizing its current members, the team invited the bountiful alumni from the audience to participate in the iconic New Paltz Swimming team cheer.
 
"We do a great job being a team, our fans and alumni do a great job of making an exciting meet environment," said Hawks coach Tom Eickelberg. "Anyone who comes to our meets says, 'I'm surprised it was so much fun. That was a swim meet.' That's just the baseline for us. We just want to enjoy ourselves. We're actively trying to make it more positive. It's really easy to be successful if you are surrounded by that environment."
 
The atmosphere was only fueled when the women's 400-yard medley relay team placed first in the day's opening event, setting the tone for the rest of the meet. The Hawks team of junior Chelsea Angulas, sophomore Lindsay Kranitz, and seniors Donlevy and Lee finished at 3 minutes 58.63 seconds, which was more than 22 seconds before the Red Dragons' relay, whilst obliterating the pool record standing since 2012 at 4:03.48.
 
The excitement dribbled over to the following men's 400-yard medley relay of Toure, Akiva Garfield, Luke Gamboli and Mitch Chappell, who clocked in at 3:58.54 for first place.
 
SUNY New Paltz made multiple attempts at other pool records; Lee followed up her relay performance by breaking the 50-yard freestyle record with a time of 23.87. Lee attempted to secure the 100-yard freestyle record as well, but missed by a mere tenth of a second (53.35). Celecki fell short of the 1,650-yard freestyle record, but managed to secure first place (16:47.50). Similarly, Kaefer set sights on her own 400-yard individual medley record, but was unable to do so despite finishing to the wall more than 14 seconds ahead of her competitor (4:41.96).
 
The Hawks finished first in 16 of 22 events. Donlevy finished first in the 200-yard freestyle (2:02.57). Galante was first to the wall in the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 4:34.07. Angulas (1:01.08) and Toure (57.21) secured gold in their respective 100-yard backstrokes. Celecki (5:01.00) and Kaefer (5:35.24) both scored another first place finish in their 500-yard freestyle. Kranitz and Garfield were first to the wall in their respective 100-yard breaststroke for times of 1:10.11 and 1:04.80.
 
SUNY New Paltz was eager to beat their State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) and Catskill Cup rival. Named after the Mountain range that separates the universities, the competition awards two points for every regular season dual contest win, one point for every regular season tie, and two points for the team that places higher at SUNYAC championships across all sports programs that both schools share. After wins on both the men's and women's sides, the swim team adds four points to New Paltz's leading score, 17-5, and looks forward to adding two more by placing higher at SUNYACs.
 
"It was great to have a successful senior meet," Eickelberg said. "It was really great to win that meet on both the men and women's sides, and from it looks like mens and womens basketball also won, so New Paltz had a clean sweep over Oneonta, which is a pretty special thing."
 
SUNY New Paltz will finish out their season at the SUNY Geneseo Invite in Buffalo, NY on Saturday Feb. 2. To stay up to date with everything #NPHawks be sure to follow us on Twitter at @nphawks,Instagram and Facebook at @newpaltzhawks, and subscribe to our Youtube channel, New Paltz Hawks.