Five NCAA 'B' cut times and two new school records from Case Western Reserve University swimmers highlighted performances from the Spartan men's and women's swimming and diving teams on Saturday at the final day of the 2022 University Athletic Association Championships hosted by Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.
Junior swimmer Abby Halsdorfer had the best individual finish of any CWRU swimmer on Saturday, placing sixth in the 1650-yard freestyle. She recorded an NCAA 'B' cut time with her finish in 17:23.39.
First-year swimmer Peter Meng contributed to breaking two school records, one individually and one in a relay. He earned an NCAA 'B' cut time and set the new school record in the 1650-yard freestyle, finishing in 15:45.41 and seventh place in the event. Meng beat the previous best mark of 15:47.83 from first-year swimmer Michael Butler, set earlier this season at the Magnus Cup Invite. Meng also teamed up with first-year swimmer Jackson Pollard and junior swimmers Campbell Patterson and Andrew Smith to set a new school-best in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The relay finished in 3:02.45 and sixth place in the event, beating their own record of 3:03.35 set earlier this season. The time was also made the NCAA 'B' cut.
Butler also recorded an NCAA 'B' cut time in the 1650-yard freestyle, finishing the race in 16:08.70 and 12th place.
The last NCAA 'B' cut time was from sophomore swimmer Ethan Chuang in the 200-yard breaststroke. Chuang finished in 2:01.99 and ninth place in the event.
The women's 400-yard freestyle relay, consisting of first-year swimmers Simone Vale, Gabriella Chambers, Angeli Paull, and Isabel Verheyen placed sixth in the event, finishing in 3:33.37.
Individually, the Spartan women's team earned a pair of 11th place finishes from first-year swimmer Elishka Bailey, who placed 11th in the 200-yard backstroke with a finals time of 2:04.56, and junior swimmer Johanna Pearson, who took 11th in the 1650-yard freestyle with a finals time of 17:54.18.
Other top finishers include first-year swimmer Kate Menzer, who took 13th in the 200-yard butterfly with a finals time of 2:08.22, first-year swimmer Erica Rice, who finished 14th in the 200-yard breaststroke with a finals time of 2:25.99, and first-year swimmer Selah Dean, who placed 16th in the 1650-yard freestyle with a finals time of 18:31.23.
For the men's team, Smith earned 13th place in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:51.75. Spartan divers competed in the one-meter dive with first-year diver Nico Billoni placing 12th with a mark of 374.45, senior diver Mark Fox placing 15th with a mark of 324.00, and first-year diver Alex Waltman placing 16th with a mark of 318.00.
Both the 17th-ranked CWRU men's and 20th-ranked CWRU women's swimming and diving teams placed sixth in the conference. The men's team earned 671 points, while the women's team earned 752.5 points. Emory was the conference champion with their men's team earning 2,128 points and their women's team earning 1,807 points.
The Spartans next head to Chicago, Illinois on Friday, February 18 and Saturday, February 19 for their penultimate swimming event of the season, the Midwest Invitational hosted by the University of Chicago. Action on Friday will start at 7:00 p.m.
