Utica, NY (1-15-13) – The Utica College men and women swim and dive teams welcome Empire 8 rival Nazareth College to the Utica College Pool of Champions Saturday afternoon … The meet will be held at the Clark Athletic Center and is scheduled to start at 1 p.m.

UC Men: Utica is currently 3-5 overall and looks to finish strong in its final two regular season meets … After a 3-2 start to the season, the Pioneers have lost three consecutive matches to RIT, Alfred and Clarkson … Senior Scott Wanner along with sophomores Anthony Farber, Kaleb Bright and freshman Raphael Warnon will lead the way for men.

Pioneer Women: The UC women have struggled this season and presently hold a 1-8 overall record … The women's lone win came on Dec.1st against Cazenovia College by a score of 159-123 … The team dropped two close matches earlier in the season by six and ten points … Seniors Michelle Allen (Canton, MA/Canton) and Sarah Parker (Dover, NH/Dover) together with junior Jordan Hess (Victor, NY/Victor Senior ) and sophomore Amy Dumary (Ballston Spa, NY/Ballston Spa) will guide the women's squad.

Utica Dive Squad: Sophomores Tyler Hickey and Omar Renta make up the men's team while juniors Angeliqua Jones (Monroe, NY /Washingtonville ) and Leah Kazalski (Greene, NY/Greene) head the women … Two weeks ago against Alfred University, Hickey and Renta combined for 26 of UC's 62 points.

Golden Flyer Report: The Nazareth men currently have a 2-4 overall record while the women hold a 3-3 mark on the season … The men lost its season opener to Alfred then won back-to-back contests against St. Lawrence and the College at Brockport, convincingly … However, both teams have fallen upon hard times recently losing three straight to Hartwick, Rochester and Fredonia … The women opened up the season with three convincing victories over Alfred, St. Lawrence and Brockport.

UC vs. Naz: The Golden Flyers own the heads up series with UC winning the last seven matches by convincing scores … Last season, the Nazareth men beat Utica 189-59 while the women won 169-86, at the Schults Center in Rochester, NY.

UNYSCSA Championships Ahead: Following Saturday's competition, UC is back in action next Saturday, Feb. 2nd in its final regular season contest when it hosts St. Lawrence University (1 p.m.) … The Pioneers then will have an 18-day break to prepare for the Upstate New York State Collegiate Swimming Association Championships Wednesday, Feb. 20th through Friday, Feb. 22nd at Ithaca College.