"We were able to get on a roll early and things just flowed from there," said Head Coach Nick Nichols.
The relay team of Rob Winograd '02, Mike Pohorylo '04, Chris Morton '02 and Pat Kennedy '03 started things off with a six-second-plus victory over the Panthers in the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 3:32.70, beating the pool record set in 1999 by Morton, Pat Lahey '00, Flori Fischetti '99 and Read Porter '01.
"If you looked up into the packed stands and at your teammates lining the side of the pool, you couldn't help but swim fast," said tri-captain Morton.
Following his teammates' lead, distance freestyler Steve Shapiro '04 finished in first place in the next event, the 1,000 freestyle, by more than 26 seconds, in 10:00.63. Dan Gach '05 nearly pulled out a second place in the event, but just missed it by seven tenths of a second, a narrow margin for such a long event.
Fellow rookie Colin Porter '05 described the pressure he felt swimming in the first close meet of the season. "I was very nervous for my first big collegiate meet," said Porter. "But I gave myself to my teammates and felt them behind me."
Team support continued to build when Winograd captured first in the next event, the 200 freestyle (1:47.78). Once again, the Jeffs just missed second place when Jeff Sunderland '03 finished in third behind a Midd Panther by less than two tenths of a second. With another win in the 50 freestyle by Kennedy, whose time of 22.02 marked his best in-season time to date, the Jeffs were off to a strong start with a 19-point lead over Middlebury going into the 200 individual medley.
At Middlebury, the Jeffs suffered their first loss of the meet, with Pohorylo finishing second (1:59.57). Just behind him, Morton took third in 2:00.60. After a victory in three-meter diving by Ben Hopkins '03 (299.78 points), the Jeffs took their first one-two finish of the meet in the 200 butterfly. Morton finished in first by two seconds with a 1:58.88, one of his best in-season times ever, with Sunderland behind him in 2:01.09. Following their lead, Chuck Clinton '05 and Kennedy took first and second in the 100 freestyle, finishing within one-tenth of a second of each other's times (49.07 and 49.17). In the backstroke, Winograd pulled out a decisive victory by more than three seconds, with a 1:58.60, followed by Shapiro in the 500 with a 4:53.61. Again, Gach nearly squeaked in for second in the 500.
After Hopkins' second victory in diving, with a score of 270.90 in the one-meter event, Pohorylo took the 200 breaststroke by over six seconds in a time of 2:14.47. Though the Jeffs lost the final 400 freestyle relay, with the team of Clinton, Grant Mandsager '04, Shapiro and Sunderland taking second in 3:20.44, the men finished off the meet with a score of 145.5 to Middlebury's 93.5.
Two-time winners included Hopkins, Kennedy, Morton, Pohorylo and Shapiro, while Winograd snagged three victories throughout the course of the afternoon. Tri-captain Rich O'Brien '02 accurately summed up the day. "It was fun, fun, yeah," said O'Brien. "[It was] a team-unifying experience. We overcame our first team challenge."
The Lord Jeffs' final meet before Christmas break will be at home against Springfield College this Saturday at 1:00 p.m.