The Shippensburg University swim teams resumed their training schedule last week and will compete in their first dual meet of the year this weekend when they travel to Edinboro for a two-day competition on Friday and Saturday.

SU has been training extremely hard for the past 10 days and is entering the critical second half of its schedule, as the PSAC Championships are just seven weeks away.

"We've done some very good, tough work the past week or so and I know the team is a bit tired. But, at this time of year, everybody is," head coach Tim Verge said of his swimmers. "So, this will be a great weekend to test our toughness."

This weekend's opponent, Edinboro, has become a semi-annual matchup for the Raiders, meeting each of the last three seasons. Verge served as an assistant with the Fighting Scots from 1989-92, a time when he mentored the current Edinboro coach, Chris Rhodes. The two teams split last year's meetings, with the SU women and the EU men emerging as victors.

"Edinboro is a very strong group and well coached," Verge said. "I know the kids will have a nice break getting to do some racing again. This is the type of meet where we need to be really good with those "little" things everyone talks about, such as turns, start explosiveness, reaction and finishing."

Shippensburg has two dual meets scheduled this month – including Senior Day on January 25 vs. Davis & Elkins. The Raiders will also compete in the Navy Invitational on February 2.

"We only have two more weeks until our seniors' final home meet with Davis and Elkins," Verge said. "That should be a great memory for them. It's hard to believe the final meet at Navy is less than a month away. We need to really stay healthy and keep our focus where it needs to be."