Case Western Reserve University swimming totaled one NCAA Division III 'B' cut time during the final day of competition at the Wooster Invitational, propelling both the men's and women's squads to first-place finishes at the meet.
The men won the meet for the seventh-straight season, totaling 1,618 points to finish 403 points ahead of second-place Westminster (1,215 points). Gannon University finished in third place among the nine squads with 1,206 points.
CWRU's women dominated the 10-team field with 1,846.5 points, finishing well-ahead of second-place Edinboro (1,265.5) and third-place Westminster (1,149). It marked the squad's second-ever first-place finish at the meet.
The Spartan men were particularly strong in 200-yard breaststroke and the 1,650-yard freestyle. Freshman Mason Beck won the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:06.76, while sophomore Brody Schmidt finished third (2:08.77), freshman A.J. Quinn finished fourth (2:09.70) and junior Evan Rose finished seventh (2:11.26).
Senior David Merriman paced the squad in the 1,650-yard freestyle, winning the event with a 'B' cut time 16:14.47. It marked his first 'B' cut of the meet.
Sophomore Keith Erichsen finished third in the 1,650-yard freestyle with a time of 16:26.07, while freshman Tom Schlechter claimed fourth with a time of 16:36.67.
Also for the Spartan men, sophomore diver Neil Orton finished second in the one-meter dive with a score of 341.65.
Other top finishers for the Spartan men on Saturday included junior Oliver Hudgins in the 200-yard backstroke (1:52.30, second), junior Drew Hamilton in the 200-yard backstroke (1:55.05, fifth), senior Andrew Henning in the 100-yard freestyle (46.65, fourth), junior Aaron Pang (1:53.45, second) and senior John Tomko (1:57.98) in the 200-yard butterfly.
For the women, freshman Elizabeth Ye finished second in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:28.08.
Other top finishers for the women were sophomore Kelsey Holmberg (18:07.87, third) and freshman Sienna Picchione (18:38.41, eighth) in the 1,650-yard freestyle, sophomore Bhavya Kumaran (2:10.72, third) and freshman Joanne Tan (2:15.66, eighth) in the 200-yard backstroke, junior Jennifer Eurich (53.49, third), junior Inez Moore (53.57, fourth) and sophomore Lauren Homack (54.39, seventh) in 100-yard freestyle, freshman Sarah Taekman (2:28.23, third) and sophomore Alexa Simoneau (2:31.85, eighth) in the 200-yard breastroke, and sophomore Casey Crowley (2:10.04, third), freshman Monica Khare (2:13.41, sixth) and freshman Becca Segel (2:15.91, eighth) in the 200-yard butterfly.
Also for the Spartan women, junior Brooke Hortness finished second in the three-meter dive with a score of 375.85.
The Spartans will be off from intercollegiate competition for over a month, before beginning the 2017 portion of the schedule on January 21st, as they host Ohio Northern University and Hillsdale College.
