The Case Western Reserve University men's and women's swimming and diving teams sent out their graduating members with two big wins on 'Senior Day' in the teams' final dual meet of the 2021-22 season at the Veale Natatorium in Cleveland, Ohio on Saturday afternoon. The teams swept Baldwin Wallace University with the women's side defeating the Yellow Jackets 248-46 while the men's team prevailed 245-49.
With the wins, the Spartan women's team improves to 6-1 in dual meets this season, while the men's team improves to 4-3. The Baldwin Wallace women drop to 9-5, and the men fall to 7-5 on the year.
The Case Western Reserve squads turned in dominating performances with the women winning all 16 events on the day and the men winning 15 of the 16 events.
First-year Kate Menzer turned in the top performance of the day for the Spartans, taking first place in four total events, including two individual and two relay races. Menzer won the 50 Breast with a time of 31.60 and the 50 Fly with a time of 26.53. She was also on the winning 200 Medley relay team with first-years Simone Vale, Nara Lee, and Gabriella Chambers which finished in 1:49.86, and she was a member of the top 200 Free relay team with Vale, Chambers, and first-year Angeli Paull that finished in 1:40.29.
Lee added two individual wins in addition to her first-place finish on the 200 Medley relay team. She won the 100 Fly in 59.21 and the 100 IM in 1:02.25. Vale and Chambers each also secured victories in individual events, with Vale taking the 50 Free in 24.63 and Chambers winning the 100 Free in 54.36. Junior Abby Halsdorfer won two individual events, the 1000 Free (10:48.60) and the 500 Free (5:17.79).
Paull (200 Free, 1:58.39), first-year Erica Rice (50 Back, 27.65), first-year Elishka Bailey (100 Back, 59.29), and first-year Madison McDaniels (100 Breast, 1:08.80) round out the top-finishing swimmers for CWRU.
First-year Abigail Wilkov swept the diving events for the Spartan women with scores of 296.90 in the one-meter dive and 308.55 in the three-meter dive.
On the men's side, the team's top finisher was first-year Ben Zuo who won three events. His two individual wins came in the 100 Fly in 52.02 and the 50 Fly in 23.16. Zuo was also a member of the top-placing 200 Free relay team, teaming up with first-years Jackson Pollard, Cole Davin, and Peter Meng to finish in 1:26.27.
A quartet of Spartans picked up wins in two events each: Meng, juniors Patrick Cavanaugh and Campbell Patterson, and sophomore Ethan Chuang. In addition to the 200 Free relay victory, Meng claimed first in the 500 Free with a time of 4:36.27. Cavanaugh secured a win in the 100 Breast (1:00.36) and as a member of the 200 Medley relay team (1:35.29) with Patterson and juniors Xander Guerrero and Anatole Borisov. Patterson added a first place finish in the 50 Free, winning the event in 21.51 seconds. Meanwhile, Chuang won two individual events: the 50 Breast in 26.61 seconds and the 100 IM in 53.22 seconds.
Four other Spartan male swimmers claimed wins at the meet: sophomore Sean Yetter (200 Free, 1:46.48) and first-years Michael Butler (1000 Free, 9:59.25), Austin Sung (50 Back, 25.48), and Stephen Hogeman (100 Free, 48.52).
First-years Trevor Elliott and Nico Billoni split the diving events for the men with Elliott winning the one-meter dive with a score of 263.55 and Billoni winning the three-meter dive with a score of 268.25.
Prior to the meet, the Spartans honored their 13 graduating team members in a 'Senior Day' ceremony. C.J. Hill, Kelly Moton, Jackie Ngu, Hailey Seibert, Anna Smith, Kennzie Hartmann, Will Backer, Michael Clough, Mark Fox, Ryan Gilbert, Ryan Gorman, Kelvin Tay, and Calvin Tecson were each honored at the start of the meet. Since the 2018-19 season, the Spartans women's team has secured 22 dual meet wins and the men's team has won 18 meets. In addition to their success in the pool, the senior members have been leaders in the classroom, earning College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-America Team honors in every season.
Next for Case Western Reserve is the University Athletic Association Championships hosted by Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Action starts on Wednesday, February 9 and continues through Saturday, February 12.
