Case Western Reserve University totaled six first-place finishes one NCAA 'B' cut time during the final day of competition at the Wooster Invitational, propelling both the men's and women's squad's to first-place finishes at the meet.
The men won the meet for the ninth-straight season, totaling 2,025 points to finish 621.5 points ahead of second-place Gannon (1,403.5). Westminster finished in third place among the 10 squads with 1,105 points.
CWRU's women dominated the 11-team field with 2,163 points, finishing well-ahead of second-place Wooster (1,219.5) and third-place Gannon (1,110). It marked the squad's fourth-straight first-place finish at the meet.
Senior Suhan Mestha led the Spartan women again on Saturday, notching a 'B' cut time of 51.03 in the 100-yard freestyle. Freshman Daniella Rupert earned a fifth-place finish in the event with a time of 53.91.
Sophomore Caitlyn VonFeldt claimed the title in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:03.72. Senior Bhavya Kumaran placed third in the event with a time of 2:09.29 and freshman Jackie Ngu finished seventh with a time of 2:11.55.
The women's 400-yard freestyle relay team of senior Suhan Mestha, VonFeldt, freshman Daniella Rupert and freshman Sarah Krueger also earned a first-place finish, as they won the event with a time of 3:32.63.
The Spartan women were also strong in the 200-yard butterfly and the 1,650-yard freestyle, finishing with four 'A' final finishers in the 200-yard fly and three 'A' final finishers in the 1,650-yard free. The 200-yard butterfly 'A' final finishers were junior Olivia Picchione (first, 2:11.77), freshman Anna Smith (fourth, 2:14.83), freshman C.J. Hill (fifth, 2:13.79 in the prelims) and junior Aleah Hixenbaugh (seventh, 2:17.06). The 1,650-yard free 'A' final finishers were Krueger (third, 18:11.93), freshman Kate Ptashnik (fourth, 18:21.88) and senior Kelsey Holmberg (sixth, 18:27.94).
Other top finishers for the women were junior Rhiannon Reese (second, 1:02.93) in the 100-yard individual medley and junior Sarah Taekman (fourth, 2:26.75 in the prelims) and senior Alexa Simoneau (sixth, 2:28.84 in the prelims) in 200-yard breaststroke.
Also for the Spartan women, freshman Hailey Seibert added a fourth-place finish in the three-meter dive with a score of 384.75.
For the men, freshman Calvin Tecson finished first in the 100-yard individual medley with a time of 52.60.
Other top finishers for the Spartan men on Saturday included senior Keith Erichsen (first, 16:18.26), senior Brody Schmidt (third, 16:34.77) and freshman Will Backer (fifth, 16:47.35) in the 1,650-yard freestyle, and freshman Ryan Gilbert (fifth, 1:53.60 in the prelims) and sophomore Dakota Weinman (eighth, 1:55.41 in prelims) in the 200-yard backstroke.
In addition, the Spartan men had six 'A' final finishers in the 200-yard breaststroke and four in the 200-yard butterfly. The 'A' final finishers in the 200-yard breast were Schmidt (second, 2:08.08), sophomore Sean Twomey (third, 2:08.02 in the prelims), freshman Michael Schiml (fourth, 2:08.42 in the prelims), sophomore Jonathan Liu (fifth, 2:09.84), freshman Ryan Gorman (sixth, 2:10.11) and sophomore Andrew Duffield (seventh, 2:11.48). The 'A' final finishers in the 200-yard fly were sophomore Jakob Woerner (second, 1:55.67), sophomore Kyle Barclay (fourth, 1:56.74 in the prelims), freshman Michael Clough (sixth, 1:56.10 in the prelims) and sophomore Adam Fisher (eighth, 1:57.73 in the prelims).
The Spartans will be off from collegiate competition for over a month, before beginning the 2019 portion of the schedule on January 19th, as they face SUNY-Geneseo.
