For the second consecutive day, a Case Western Reserve University medley relay set a new school record for the Spartan swimming teams, with the men's 200 Medley Relay setting a new program best on the second day of the Magnus Cup Invite at the Busbey Natatorium in Cleveland on Friday.
First-year Emil LaSida, junior Ethan Chuang, sophomore Jackson Pollard, and senior Campbell Patterson placed third in the event with a time of 1:30.22, besting the previous CWRU record of 1:31.10 set by Chuang, Patterson, senior Connor Chignell, and former Spartan Anatole Borisov at the 2022 University Athletic Association Championships. The time was also a NCAA B cut mark, the first of two for Case Western Reserve on Friday.
Sophomore Peter Meng recorded the other B cut time for the Spartans, finishing the 400 IM final in 3:58.75. He placed third in the event to earn his second B cut time of the season after recording a cut time in the 500 Free on Thursday. Also placing in the top 10 in the event was sophomore Griffin Gushman, who finished 10th in 4:10.43 in the finals. Earlier in the day, he touched the wall at 4:06.96 to qualify for the A Final. Sophomore Kevin Hu (14th, 4:09.29), first-years Enzo Wood (17th, 4:09.82) and Joshua Hernandez (18th, 4:11.45), and junior Hunter Forsythe (20th, 4:12.40) all raced in the B Final of the 400 IM, earing team points for Case Western Reserve.
Pollard and sophomore Ben Zuo both qualified for the A Final of the 100 Fly with Zuo placing ninth in 50.00 seconds and Pollard finishing 10th in 50.34 seconds. In the prelims, Pollard swam the fifth-fastest time, touching the wall at 49.50 seconds. First-year John Drumm placed 11th with a time of 49.70 seconds in the B Final.
In the 100 Breast, Chuang placed sixth with a time of 55.99 seconds, while first-year Julian Kim touched the wall at 57.90 seconds in the B Final to place 20th. To qualify, he recorded a time of 57.73 seconds in the prelims, the 18th-fastest time in the morning session.
LaSida added a ninth-place finish in the 100 Back with a time of 51.10 seconds in the final. First-year William Froass (15th, 51.38 seconds) and sophomore Jace Creech (19th, 52.29 seconds) earned points for CWRU in the B Final of the event.
After touching the wall at 1:41.14 in the prelims of the 200 Free, first-year Mason Bencurik placed 10th in the event with a time of 1:41.49 in the A Final. Sophomore Stephen Hogeman took 14th place with a time of 1:42.15 in the B Final.
To close the day, the 800 Free Relay of Meng, Bencurik, Hogeman, and Drumm recorded a time of 6:45.02 to place second in the event, missing a B cut by 0.02 seconds.
For the women's team, the 800 Free Relay of sophomores Angeli Paull, Gabriella Chambers, and Adriana Kamor and senior Maria Pritchett recorded a time of 7:46.02 to place eighth. Earlier in the day, Pritchett had the best individual finish by a Spartan, placing 14th in the 400 IM with a B Final time of 4:35.75. In the prelims, she touched the wall at 4:35.11. Sophomore Isabel Verheyen also qualified for the B Final, placing 19th with a time of 4:41.13.
Paull was the team's top finisher in the 200 Free, recording a time of 1:54.79 in the C Final to place 23rd. Chambers, racing in the D Final, placed 31st with a time of 1:54.52.
The all-sophomore 200 Medley Relay of Erica Rice, Caroline Schlessman, Kate Menzer, and Simone Vale began the final session with a time of 1:46.91 to place 17th. Rice later added a 19th place finish in the 100 Back, touching the wall in the B Final at 58.08 seconds after swimming a time of 57.82 seconds in the prelims.
Menzer and Schlessman finished back-to-back in the 100 Breast C Final, with Menzer placing 25th at 1:07.86 and Schlessman placing 26th at 1:07.94.
First-year Claire Kozma competed in the C Final of the 100 Fly, placing 27th with a time of 57.80 seconds, the fastest time by a CWRU swimmer in the event.
Competing exclusively against Division I, Division II, and NAIA teams, the #17 men's team is fourth out of 10 teams in the standings after the second day with 464.5 points, and the #17 women's team is ninth out of 12 teams with 136 points.
The Case Western Reserve diving teams were also in action on Friday, competing at the CMU Diving Invitational at the CMU Pool in Pittsburgh. Sophomore Trevor Elliott placed 18th in the 1-meter dive with a score of 287.95, and sophomore Jocelyn Schechter finished 10th in the 3-meter dive with a score of 388.95.
The Magnus Cup Invite concludes on Saturday with prelims beginning at 9 a.m. and finals scheduled for 5 p.m. The CMU Diving Invitational will also finish on Saturday, with action slated to start at 10 a.m.
