The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams spent two days competing at the University of Pittsburgh over the holiday weekend. For the men, it was a tough five-team meet including host Pittsburgh, Penn State, Maryland and Missouri, while the women competed against Pittsburgh, Penn State and Maryland. Despite the fact that both teams were forced to compete with little rest, they were able to produce several strong races. Overall, the women finished in third place, while the men finished in fifth. Top finishers included Sarah Czar (fourth in the 200-meter freestyle), Danielle Trikner (fourth in 3-meter diving) and the 400-meter freestyle relay team of Astrid Armgarth, Jesse Radtke, Marlee Morden and Czar.

Despite fatigue and tough competition, men’s senior captain Kiel Costella said of this weekend’s meet, “We were able to get in some good racing. Our focus is mainly on Big Easts in these few remaining weeks of our season, and the meet at Pitt added to our confidence going into our championship.”

Senior captains of the women’s team, Radtke and Caitlin Regan, viewed this weekend’s results positively and as a stepping stone on the way to their main competition: the Big East Championships.

Regan agreed that the team results were not as strong as expected due to intense recent training; however, she acknowledged that “there were still some great swims.”

Radtke also expressed that facing such big schools as Penn State, Maryland and Pittsburgh was “a good tune-up before Big Easts.”

The men’s and women’s teams will host their final home meet of the ’07-’08 season at the Pavilion tomorrow at 4 p.m. against the Delaware Blue Hens.