Case Western Reserve University Head Swimming and Diving Coach Doug Milliken earned his 100th win with the 23rd-ranked men's swimming and diving team as the Spartans defeated the University of Rochester 227-60 on Saturday at the Veale Natatorium in Cleveland. The 14th-ranked Case Western Reserve University women's swimming and diving team bested the Yellowjackets 220-80 to sweep the dual meet for the hosts.
With the wins, both Spartan teams improved to 3-0 on the season. The Rochester men's team fell to 1-2, and the Yellowjacket women's swimming and diving team dropped to 1-3 on the season. The men's team placed first in 15 of the 16 events, and the Spartan women's team won 13 of the 16 events.
Sophomore swimmer Peter Meng set a school record in the 200-yard individual medley and a pool record in the 1000-yard freestyle to lead the men's team to the victory. Meng won the 200 IM in 1:50.56, recording an NCAA B cut time and breaking the previous record of 1:52.35 set by Andrew Smith in 2021 at the Magnus Cup Invite. In the 1000 Free, he placed first with a time of 9:29.61 to break the pool record set in 2007. The time was 0.50 seconds slower than his own school record in the event from last fall.
CWRU led off the meet with a win in the 200 Medley Relay as sophomores Emil LaSida and Mason Bencurik, senior Ethan Chuang, and junior Ben Zuo won the race in 1:32.70. Bencurik, Chuang, and Zuo added wins in individual events, with the Bencurik placing first in the 100 Free in 47.06 seconds, Chuang winning the 100-yard breaststroke in 58.37 seconds, and Zuo claiming the 50 Free in 21.15 seconds. LaSida was also a member of the winning 200 Free Relay, teaming with sophomores Ben Borvendeg and John Drumm and junior Jackson Pollard to win in 1:25.39.
Individually, Drumm claimed first in the 200 Free, touching the wall at 1:44.26, and Pollard won the 100-yard butterfly in 51.22 seconds. Sophomore Joshua Hernandez won the 200 Fly in 1:57.60. Junior Griffin Gushman helped the Spartans sweep the distance free events with a time of 4:50.21 in the 500 Free. Sophomores William Froass (100 Back) and Spencer Ahten (200 Breast) picked up wins as Froass finished his event in 51.75 seconds, and Ahten touched the wall at 2:11.10.
Junior Alex Waltman swept the diving events, winning the 1-meter dive with a score of 257.05 points and the 3-meter dive with a score of 244.20 points.
Two members of the CWRU women's team each won two events. Junior diver Abigail Wilkov swept the boards, winning the 1-meter dive with 276.75 points and the 3-meter dive with 278.03 points. Junior Selah Dean won a pair of events as well, placing first in the 200 Fly with a time of 2:14.12, and taking the 500 Free in 5:23.38
Both juniors Gabriella Chambers and Kate Menzer won events as members of a relay and as an individual. Chambers and Menzer teamed with sophomores Claire Kozma and Julia Cho to win the 200 Medley Relay in 1:48.63. Menzer later won the 200 IM with a time of 2:13.23, and Chambers secured a win in the 50 Free in 24.08 seconds. In addition, she teamed with Kozma, sophomore Eliza Dixon, and junior Kelly Vann to take first place in the 200 Free Relay with a time of 1:37.44.
Junior Angeli Paull and first-years Ava Ellis and Maggie Rose Rook all touched the wall first in freestyle events. Paull won the 100 Free in 53.74 seconds, Rook took the 200 Free in 1:56.47, and Ellis emerged victorious in the 1000 Free with a time of 10:48.19.
In the backstroke events, junior Amelia Myhrvold finished the 100-yard race in 59.42 seconds to place first, and junior Elishka Bailey won the 200-yard race with a time of 2:09.06.
The Spartan swimmers will take a week off before their mid-season finale, the Total Performance Invite, hosted by Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, from November 16-18. The CWRU divers will next travel to Carnegie Mellon for the CMU Diving Invite on November 17 and 18.
