Webster Pool featured two different Syracuse swimming and diving teams last Friday. The dominant men’s team cruised to victory and the outnumbered women’s team lost in the opening meet of the year against Colgate.

The men came away with a decisive 137-89 victory after a quick start, placing first and second in each of the first three events. They ended their day with nine victories in 11 swimming events and splitting the diving events.

‘You can’t dominate more than we did today,’ SU head coach Lou Walker said of his men’s team.

The women’s team fell behind early and trailed 64-28 after five events. After pulling to within 10 points with two events remaining, the comeback came up short as Colgate won the remaining events to secure the victory, 133-109.

The highlight on the women’s side came during the diving portion of the meet. Alida DiPlacido set the SU and Webster pool records in the one-meter springboard event.

DiPlacido is a graduate student who transferred to SU from Texas A&M for her final year of eligibility. The former All-American and 2004 Big 12 Diver of the Year scored a 301.71, beating the pool and school records of 288.37 and 290.10, respectively.

For the men, Luk Boral started his senior season with wins in the 200-meter individual medley and 200 breaststroke. Boral is coming off his most successful season in which he finished 14th in the 200 breastroke at the NCAA finals and set both the pool and school records in that event.

‘He is doing everything right and continues to do so,’ Walker said. ‘That’s what you would anticipate and that’s what you would expect.’

The men’s win was also marked by strong performances from a freshmen class in their first college meet. Freshmen accounted for five of the team’s seven wins in individual events. Boral picked up the other two. The group was particularly dominant in the distance freestyle events as they swept the 500 and placed first and third in the 1000.

These contributions come in an area where the team is seeking depth after the graduation of Pat Mugavin, the team’s best distance freestyler last season. He left a hole in the lineup that Walker is looking to the freshmen to fill.

The women’s team is also looking to fill plenty of holes as it features a roster of only nine swimmers. Against Colgate’s 21 swimmers, SU often found itself unable to fill events. This led to plentiful fourth and fifth place points for Colgate.

‘It hurts you when you’re not deep, but we’ve got a plan and we’re moving forward,’ Walker said. ‘You don’t just want to have numbers, you want to have good people and kids that can do the job.’

The men’s team has won each of the last four meets against Colgate and the women lost for the second year in a row in what Walker described as a jumping off point for the rest of the season.

Said Walker: ‘I saw a lot of good things today and obviously there are some things we’ve got to work on.’

Published on October 15, 2006 at 12:00 pm