The Case Western Reserve University men's and women's swimming and diving teams combined to set eight school records and notch seven NCAA 'B' cuts throughout the four-day meet, as the men and women each placed sixth at the 2020 University Athletic Association Championships in Chicago, Illinois on Saturday.
The Spartan men scored 732 points to finish sixth overall in the team standings. Emory won the meet with 1,595.5 points, Chicago finished second with 1,579 points, and New York University finished third with 1,298 points. On the women's side, CWRU placed sixth overall with 666 points, while Emory won the meet with 1,686.5 points. New York claimed second with 1,532.5 points and Chicago finished third with 1,481 points.
The Spartan men gathered one NCAA 'B' cut and one new school record on the final day of the meet. First-year Xander Guerrero finished 11th in the 1,650-yard freestyle with a 'B' cut time of 16:12.18. Junior Ryan Gorman added a 16th place finish in the event with a time of 16:33.15. The men's 400-yard freestyle relay team of sophomore Calvin Tecson, sophomore Ryan Gilbert, sophomore Neil Wible and first-year Anatole Borisov placed sixth in the event with a time of 3:04.93. Tecson led off the relay with a time of 46.04 in the 100 Free, which breaks the previous school record of 46.05 set by former Spartan Aaron Tam in 2016.
Junior Will McDonald added a 13th-place finish in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:50.89, while Tecson placed ninth in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 46.06. Junior Sean Twomey placed 14th in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:05.79) and first-year Andrew Smith finished 11th in the 200-yard butterfly (1:51.31).
Top performances for the women on Saturday included the 400-yard freestyle relay team of junior Caitlyn VonFeldt, sophomore Daniella Rupert, sophomore Sarah Krueger and first-year Maria Pritchett finishing sixth in the event with a time of 3:33.28. First-year Abby Halsdorfer also added a 10th place finish in the 1,650-yard freestyle with a NCAA 'B' cut time of 17:21.52.
Individually, VonFeldt finished 11th in the 200-yard backstroke (2:04.39), sophomore Kelly Moton placed 13th in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:24.57), senior Sarah Taekman placed 16th in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:27.34) and senior Olivia Picchione finished 13th in the 200-yard butterfly (2:09.82).
The Spartans will now turn their attention towards the Midwest Invitational, hosted by the University of Chicago. They will once again travel to Chicago, Illinois from Friday, February 21st through Saturday, February 22nd. Competition is set to begin Friday evening at 6:00 p.m. ET.
