Case Western Reserve University senior Suhan Mestha recorded a NCAA Division III 'B' cut time in the 50-yard freestyle and broke the school record in the event, while the women's 200-yard freestyle relay team and the 400-yard medley relay team also broke school records during the first day of competition at the Wooster Invitational, as both the men's and women's squads sit in first place at the meet.
The Spartan women led the field of 11 teams after the first day with 579.5 points, taking a 220.5 lead over second-place Gannon. The men totaled 528 first day points to pace the 10-team field and lead second-place Gannon by 78 points.
Mestha paced the squad in the 50-yard freestyle, placing first in the event with a 'B' cut time of 23.42 in the finals. That time bests the previous school record of 23.51 set back in 2007 by former Spartan Lauren Preyss. She was one of three Spartans to qualify for the 'A' final of the event, along with freshman Daniella Rupert (fifth, 24.22 in the prelims) and freshman Skye Fogle (eighth, 24.68 in the prelims).
The Spartans also had first-place finishes in both women's relays during the first day of the meet, with Mestha, Rupert, Fogle and senior Bhavya Kumaran finishing first in the 200-yard freestyle relay with a school-record time of 1:35.88, besting the previous school record of 1:36.32 set last year at the UAA Championships. The 400-yard medley relay team of Mestha, senior Alli Drohosky, sophomore Caitlyn VonFeldt and freshman Anna Smith then added a first place finish with a time of 3:52.14, which bests the previous school record of 3:52.83 set at last season's conference championships.
Other 'A' final finishes for the Spartan women on Thursday included freshman Sarah Krueger (second, 5:14.49) and senior Kelsey Holmberg (sixth, 5:17.51 in the prelims) in the 500-yard freestyle and freshman Kelly Moton (fourth, 2:13.04) in the 200-yard individual medley.
CWRU sophomore Sean Twomey earned a win in the men's 200-yard individual medley with a time of 1:54.27. He was one of five Spartans to qualify for the 'A' final of the event, along with freshman Ryan Gorman (fourth, 1.55.76), sophomore Will McDonald (fifth, 1:55.80), sophomore Kyle Barclay (seventh, 1:57.26 in the prelims) and junior A.J. Quinn (eighth, 1:57.20 in the prelims).
Other 'A' final finishers for the Spartan men on Thursday included senior Keith Erichsen (third, 4:42.76) in the 500-yard freestyle, and freshman Calvin Tecson (fifth, 21.56) and freshman Ryan Gilbert (seventh, 21.60) in the 50-yard freestyle.
In addition, the men's 200-yard freestyle relay team of Gilbert, Tecson, senior Brody Schmidt and freshman Alec Johnson finished third in the event with a time of 1:25.09, while the men's 400-yard medley relay team of sophomore Dakota Weinman, sophomore Jonathan Liu, sophomore Jakob Woerner and freshman Neil Wible placed third in the event with a mark of 3:30.02.
Action at the meet will resume on Friday at the Ellen Shapiro Natatorium, with the preliminaries starting at 10:00 a.m., with finals slated to follow at 6:00 p.m.
