The 12th-ranked Case Western Reserve University men's and 13th-ranked CWRU women's swimming teams ended the Total Performance Invitational at the Steen Aquatic Center in Gambier, Ohio, by setting six school records on Saturday, the final day of competition. The Spartans set a total of 13 school records across the three-day invitational.
Sophomore John Drumm won the 200 Fly in a school record time of 1:47.11 in the A Final of the event, besting his previous program-best time of 1:49.36 from the 2023 University Athletic Association Championships. Drumm also recorded an NCAA B Cut time in the event. Joining him in the A Final was junior Kevin Hu, who placed 10th with a time of 1:52.08. Sophomores Adam Khatib (14th, 1:52.84) and Joshua Hernandez (16th, 1:54.36) and junior Anthony Colangelo (19th, 1:54.86) also placed in the top 20 at the meet.
In the 100 Free, sophomore Mason Bencurik broke Andrew Smith's school record of 45.84 seconds from the 2023 Midwest Invitational with a time of 45.29 seconds in the prelims of the race. In the final, Bencurik placed fifth by finishing in 45.32 seconds. Junior Jackson Pollard competed in the B Final, placing 19th with a time of 46.49 seconds.
Junior Peter Meng completed the first 1,000 yards of the 1650 Free in 9:28.77, besting his previous record of 9:29.11 from the 2022 Magnus Cup. He finished fifth in the race with an NCAA B Cut time of 15:45.65. Also placing in the top 20 for CWRU were first-year Michael Butler (16th, 16:24.08) and seniors Griffin Gushman (19th, 16:33.54) and Sean Yetter (20th, 16:33.82).
To end the night, the 400 Free Relay of Drumm, Bencurik, Meng, and sophomore Emil LaSida placed third with a time of 3:02.43, besting the previous school record of 3:02.45 set by Meng, Pollard, Smith, and Campbell Patterson, at the 2022 UAA Championships.
For the women's team, first-year Ava Ellis broke a five-year record in the 200 Breast, touching the wall at 2:23.60 to beat the previous best time of 2:24.50 from Sarah Taekman at the 2018 UAA Championships. Ellis placed eighth in the event. A trio of Spartans competed in the B Final with senior Emma Guarnieri placing 17th in 2:25.97, junior Erica Rice finishing 18th with a time of 2:26.60, and junior Liz Cao placing 20th at 2:27.90.
The 400 Free Relay of sophomore Claire Kozma and juniors Angeli Paull, Kate Menzer, and Gabriella Chambers set the final school record of the night with a time of 3:27.49, breaking the previous record of 3:28.67 swam by Kozma, Paull, Chambers, and sophomore Eliza Dixon at the 2023 UAA Championships. The Spartans recorded a B Cut time and placed third in the event.
Kozma recorded a B Cut in the 100 Free, finishing as the runner-up in the event with a time of 51.43 seconds. Placing fifth in 51.86 seconds was Chambers, and Paull placed 11th in 52.42 seconds in the B Final.
In addition to the school record, Ellis added a seventh-place finish in the 1650 Free with a time of 17:22.32. Fellow first-year Erin Butler placed 14th in the event in 17:54.76.
Two members of the CWRU men's team finished in the top 10 in the 200 Breast. Junior Jiro Batt placed fifth with a time of 2:04.10 in the A Final, and senior Ethan Chuang was right behind him, placing sixth in 2:04.11. Placing 17th was sophomore Spencer Ahten with a time of 2:06.01.
In the 200 Back, sophomore William Froass placed ninth with a time of 1:53.48 in the A Final after swimming 1:51.97 in prelims. Junior Jace Creech (12th, 1:52.74), first-year Michael Boelens (14th, 1:53.43), junior Zach Toothman (18th, 1:57.37), and senior Neeraj Javadekar (19th, 2:00.06) all competed in the B Final of the event.
For the women's team, junior Elishka Bailey placed sixth in the 200 Back in 2:04.90, and three Spartans competed in the B Final. Sophomore Lauren Valentine placed 14th with a time of 2:06.95, sophomore Kate Trembly finished 16th in 2:07.48, and junior Amelia Myhrvold placed 19th in 2:09.72, after swimming a time of 2:07.52 in prelims. Sophomore Allison Ploutz-Snyder added a 16th place finish in the 200 Fly with a time of 2:10.23.
Overall, the CWRU men's team placed fourth out of eight teams with 1,140.0 points, and the Spartan women's team placed fourth out of eight teams with 1,138.5 points. Host Kenyon placed first with the Owl men's team scoring 1,894.5 points and the women's team scoring 2,672.5 points.
The Spartan diving teams traveled to Pittsburgh for the second and final day of the CMU Diving Invitational hosted by Carnegie Mellon University at the CMU Pool. In the 1-meter dive, junior Alex Waltman placed seventh with 332.55 points. Three members of the women's team placed in the top seven in the 3-meter dive. Junior Abigail Wilkov finished fourth with 413.85 points, junior Jocelyn Schechter was sixth with 392.60 points, and senior Rei Miyauchi placed seventh with 390.60 points.
The two meets mark the end of competition for the Spartan swimming and diving teams in 2023. The teams will return to the pool on January 20, 2024, facing #18/23 SUNY Geneseo in a dual meet in Geneseo, New York, that is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
