The Trinity Bantam Men's and Women's teams, who both went undefeated and won their respective 2001-2002 Intercollegiate Team championships, were honored with a midday visit to the gold-dome-topped Connecticut state capital building in downtown Hartford on April 24th.

WITH GOVERNOR ROWLAND
The teams initially spent a half-hour with Governor John Rowland, who presented each varsity player with a championship ring and posed for individual and team photos.

"This is a great honor; I don't know if many of our foreign players realize what this means," men's coach Paul Assaiante said.

"To be here in the governor's office is unbelievable," said freshman Bernardo Samper of Bogota, Columbia, the national intercollegiate champion.

For veteran coaches Paul Assaiante and Wendy Bartlett, it was a banner year, with the men also winning the USSRA Five-Man title for the second straight year and the women adding the Howe Cup to their string of victories, and the expected addition of several talented recruits and presence of so many underclassmen on this season's roster, including both women finalists and all of the men's top five save Ragontse, augurs well for their future championship aspirations as well.

"Our goal right after we had lost to Harvard last year was to win the team title," Trinity women's coach Wendy Bartlett said. "To work together and achieve that goal was most satisfying."

MEDIA COVERAGE
The State Senate was in session that day, and the teams then visited its intimate assembly hall, where their accomplishments were noted and applauded by the Senate members, who presented the coaches with a certificate acknowledging the dual-championship achievement. The Hartford Courant had a substantial back-page article, complete with team photos, describing the visit and local Newschannel 61 covered the event and interviewed several team members for its nightly news edition as well.