The Colorado State swimming team faced little competition this weekend as it won the Early Bird Invitational, held at Edora Pool and Ice Center, by almost 340 points.

"We want to win the [Mountain West] Conference. That is what we are shooting for," said distance swimmer Meika Weiner.

This is the expectation for this year's swim team. On Saturday and Sunday, the Rams began on their journey to success by capturing their 10th straight Early Bird Invitational title.

Throughout the meet, the Rams were a team to contend with. They won the tournament with a total score of 1,152 points, holding their own against rivals such as Colorado, Wyoming and Denver. DU finished a distant second with a score of 813.5.

However, the win was not as easy as the score might suggest.

"We are so broken down since we train hard from the beginning of the season on," said sprint swimmer Tiffany Thompson.

Weiner said that despite hard practices, the team was able to swim up to expectations.

"We have done really well. We have had some hard practices and have been training really hard this past week, but people are still able to do relatively great times," she said.

Yet, when it came time to perform, the Rams did just that. Despite being somewhat tired from all their workouts, they stepped it up in several events. In the 1,650-yard freestyle swim, an individual endurance test that lasts longer than 20 minutes, CSU's Taylor Felton took second.

The team was also placed highly in most events. In the 100-meter fly CSU finished with five of the top 10 swimmers in the event. Sunday alone, the team provided an extremely competitive field in the 100-meter back as well by posting five of the event's top 10 finishers. In the 100-meter freestyle, the team had four swimmers in the top 15.

This year's team is relatively young -- 23 out of approximately 37 athletes are freshman. And while most people might see this as a sign of inexperience, the team members see potential.

"I see it as an advantage. We have four years to grow and improve," Weiner said.

The Rams will take their game on the road as they face off against several teams in the Rice Invitational Oct. 30 in Houston.