Members of the 12th-ranked Case Western Reserve University men's and 13th-ranked CWRU women's swimming teams set five school records on the second day of the Total Performance Invitational at the Steen Aquatic Center in Gambier, Ohio, on Friday.
Junior Peter Meng set two of the Spartan records, one in the 400 IM and one in the 200 Free. In the prelims, Meng broke the program record in the 400 IM, swimming a time of 3:57.44 to best the previous mark of 3:57.85 set by Drew Hamilton at the 2017 NCAA Championships. Later in the day, Meng bested his own mark by three seconds, winning the event with a time of 3:54.59 in the A Final. To close the day, he led off the 800 Free Relay with a time of 1:39.62, beating Hamilton's mark of 1:39.84 from 2017. Meng recorded NCAA B Cut times in both events. The relay of Meng, sophomores John Drumm and Mason Bencurik, and junior Stephen Hogeman placed third in the event with a B Cut time of 6:43.14.
Bencurik contributed to a third CWRU record on the day, helping the 200 Medley Relay set a record and earn a B Cut with a time of 1:29.66. Bencurik teamed with sophomore Emil LaSida, senior Ethan Chuang, and junior Ben Zuo to place fourth and best the previous record of 1:30.15 set by LaSida, Chuang, Zuo, and former Spartan Campbell Patterson at the 2023 Midwest Invitational.
For the women's swimming team, sophomore Claire Kozma swam a program-best time in the 100 Fly, placing second in the event in 55.46 seconds. Kozma, who recorded an NCAA B Cut time, bested the previous mark of 55.64 seconds recorded by Maggie Dillione in 2014 at the University Athletic Association Championships. Junior Kate Menzer placed fourth in the event with a time of 56.40 seconds.
In addition, the 800 Free Relay of Kozma, juniors Angeli Paull and Gabriella Chambers, and first-year Maggie Rose Rook set a school record and recorded a B Cut with a time of 7:35.52. The mark bests the previous record of 7:37.06 set by Paull, Chambers, fifth-year senior Maria Pritchett, and former Spartan Abby Halsdorfer at the 2023 UAA Championships. CWRU placed second in the event.
Bencurik was the runner-up in the 200 Free for Case Western Reserve, touching the wall at 1:39.94 in the A Final. Hogeman placed 10th in the event with a time of 1:42.97, and senior Griffin Gushman finished 18th in 1:43.88. Two members of the team placed in the top eight in the 100 Fly, with Drumm finishing fifth with a time of 49.39 seconds, and junior Jackson Pollard earning eighth place in 49.52 seconds.
Chuang led three top 20 finishers in the 100 Breast, placing seventh with an A Final time of 56.27 seconds. Zuo finished 17th with a time of 56.84 seconds in the B Final, and sophomore Julian Kim finished 20th in 57.29 seconds.
CWRU placed five swimmers in the top 20 in the 100 Back with two reaching the A Final and three qualifying for the B Final. LaSida and sophomore William Froass finished ninth and 10th, respectively, with final times of 50.09 seconds and 51.24 seconds. Each qualified for the final with a faster time as LaSida had the fifth-fastest time (49.53 seconds) and Froass had the 10th-fastest time (50.90 seconds). In the B Final, junior Jace Creech finished 14th with a mark of 51.67 seconds, sophomore Tyler Ahten placed 17th in 52.21 seconds, and first-year Michael Boelens finished 19th in 52.55 seconds.
Finally, sophomore Joshua Hernandez and junior Jadon Wyant each reached the B Final of the 400 IM. Hernanez placed 13th after touching the wall at 4:06.59, and Wyant finished 20th with a finals time of 4:10.83.
Three members of the women's team qualified for the A Final of the 200 Free, led by a fifth-place finish from Paull in 1:53.37. Rook finished eighth with a time of 1:53.98, and Chambers placed 10th in 1:55.34 after a preliminary time of 1:53.96.
In the 100 Back, both junior Erica Rice and sophomore Kate Trembly reached the A Final, with Rice placing ninth in 58.51 seconds and Trembly touching the wall at 58.81 seconds. Both swam faster times in prelims, 57.97 seconds for Rice and 58.08 seconds for Trembly. A trio of Spartans swam in the B Final. Junior Amelia Myhrvold placed 12th in 57.99 seconds, first-year Asma Khan finished 13th in 58.33 seconds, and sophomore Julia Cho finished 16th with a time of 58.75 seconds.
Four CWRU swimmers competed in the B Final of the 400 IM. Pritchett and junior Isabel Verheyen finished consecutively with Pritchett placing 12th in 4:34.85 and Verheyen placing 13th in 4:35.54. Senior Emma Guarnieri had the sixth-best time in the final, placing 16th after touching the wall at 4:38.87. Finally, junior Elishka Bailey improved on her preliminary time to place 19th overall with a mark of 4:42.73.
Menzer added a 10th place finish in the 100 Breast, touching the wall in the A Final at 1:05.87. First-year Ava Ellis reached the B Final of the event with a prelim time of 1:07.05, finishing 20th overall with a finals time of 1:07.68.
The Spartan diving teams traveled to Pittsburgh for the first day of the CMU Diving Invitational hosted by Carnegie Mellon University at the CMU Pool.
Junior Abigail Wilkov won the 1-meter dive for the women's team with 469.85 points. Junior Jocelyn Schechter placed fourth (417.80 points), and seniors Rei Miyauchi (417.75 points) and Elena Igic (372.45 points) finished fifth and ninth, respectively. For the men's team, junior Alex Waltman placed fourth in the 3-meter dive with 416.00 points, and first-year Jack Rudofsky was the runner-up in the six-dive version of the event with 193.55 points.
The third and final day of the Total Performance Invitational begins tomorrow at 10 a.m. with finals scheduled for 6 p.m. and the second and final day of the CMU Diving Invitational begins at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow.
