Case Western Reserve University swimming totaled one NCAA Division III 'B' cut time and broke three school records 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 eighth-straight season, totaling 1,899 points to finish 650.5 points ahead of second-place Westminster (1,248.5 points). Gannon University finished in third place among the nine squads with 1,224 points.
CWRU's women dominated the 11-team field with 1,984.5 points, finishing well-ahead of second-place Wooster (1,350) and third-place Gannon (1,237). It marked the squad's third straight first-place finish at the meet.
Junior Suhan Mestha led the Spartan women again on Saturday, notching a 'B' cut time of 2:02.55 in the 200-yard backstroke. That time also broke the previous school record of 2:03.49 set by Mestha in 2016. Freshman Caitlyn VonFeldt placed second in the event with a time of 2:04.68 and junior Bhavya Kumaran finished sixth with a time of 2:10.14.
The women's 400-yard freestyle relay team of Mestha, VonFeldt, freshman Vanya Ruppart and senior Jennifer Eurich also broke a school record, as they finished first in the event with a time of 3:30.71. That time breaks the previous school record of 3:30.77 set back in 2016 at the UAA Championships.
The Spartan women were also strong in the 200-yard breaststroke and the 200-yard butterfly, finishing with four 'A' final finishers in the 200-yard breast and three 'A' final finishers in the 200-yard fly. The 200-yard breast 'A' final finishers were sophomore Sarah Taekman (second, 2:27.85), sophomore Alexa Simoneau (third, 2:28.07), sophomore Elizabeth Ye (sixth, 2:29.15) and sophomore Julia Ver Voort (eighth, 2:29.40 in the prelim). The 200-yard fly 'A' final finishers were sophomore Olivia Picchione (third, 2:10.49), sophomore Monica Khare (fourth, 2:13.16 in the prelim) and junior Casey Crowley (eighth, 2:15.42 in the prelim).
Other top finishers for the women were freshman Sophia Vaccaro (third, 18:10.95) and junior Kelsey Holmberg (fifth, 18:13.94) in the 1,650-yard freestyle, sophomore Rhiannon Reese (first, 1:02.38 in the prelim) and senior Taylor Johnson (eighth, 1:06.51 in the prelim) in the 100-yard individual medley, and Ruppart (fifth, 53.74) and Eurich (sixth, 53.76) in the 100-yard freestyle.
Also for the Spartan women, senior Brooke Hortness finished second in the three-meter dive with a score of 387.85.
For the men, senior Drew Hamilton set a new school record in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 1:53.73 set during a time trial. He bested the previous record of 1:53.88 set by Nick Clyde in 2012. Hamilton also finished first in the 100-yard individual medley with a time of 52.72.
Other top finishers for the Spartan men on Saturday included junior Keith Erichsen (first, 16:18.09), senior David Merriman (second, 16:22.30) and freshman Noah Beene (fifth, 16:50.40) in the 1,650-yard freestyle, senior Oliver Hudgins (first, 1:50.49), freshman Will McDonald (seventh, 1:54.58) and freshman Dakota Weinman (eighth, 1:55.43 in the prelim).
In addition, the Spartan men had four 'A' final finishers in the 200-yard breaststroke and three in the 200-yard butterfly. The 'A' final finishers in the 200-yard breast were senior Evan Rose (first, 2:07.68), sophomore A.J. Quinn (second, 2:08.73), junior Brody Schmidt (third, 2:10.28) and freshman Jonathan Liu (eighth, 2:11.76 in the prelim). The 'A' final finishers in the 200-yard fly were senior Aaron Pang (second, 1:54.84), senior Logan Smith (fourth, 1:54.74 in the prelim) and freshman Jakob Woerner (sixth, 1:57.71).
The Spartans will be off from collegiate competition for over a month, before beginning the 2018 portion of the schedule on January 20th, as they SUNY-Geneseo.
