The Case Western Reserve University men's and women's swimming and diving team began their 2024-25 seasons by taking first place at the Early Season Invite hosted by Oberlin College at the Carr Pool in Oberlin, Ohio, on Sunday.

The CWRU women's team placed first out of four teams with 1,030 points, and the Spartan men's team finished first out of four teams with 954.5 points. Joining the hosts and Spartans were Ashland University and John Carroll University.

Senior Gabriella Chambers helped the Case Western Reserve women's team win seven events at the invitational, including four relays. Individually, Chambers placed first in the 50 Free (24.56 seconds), 100 Free (53.26 seconds), and 200 Free (1:57.62). She was also a member of the winning 200 and 400 Free Relays and 200 and 400 Medley Relays.

Senior Kate Menzer was also a member of the four winning relays and added a pair of individual first-place finishes. Menzer won the 100 Breast in 1:09.39 and touched the wall first in the 200 IM at 2:14.22.

Chambers and Menzer were joined by first-year Marina Oria and senior Angeli Paull for the 200 Free Relay that finished in 1:38.80, Paull and senior Simone Vale for the 400 Free Relay that finished in 3:38.76, senior Erica Rice and first-year Sayjel Tan for the 200 Medley Relay that recorded a time of 1:50.78, and Rice and junior Julia Cho for the 400 Medley Relay that recorded a time of 4:05.37.

Senior diver Abigail Wilkov swept the boards, winning the 1-meter dive with a score of 266.60 and the 3-meter dive with a score of 245.35.

An additional five Spartans won individual events for the CWRU women's team. In distance free races, sophomore Ava Ellis placed first in the 500 Free with a time of 5:20.34, and sophomore Erin Butler was victorious in the 1650 Free in 19:00.57. Sophomore Lillian Paley touched the wall first in the 200 Breast with a time of 2:33.53, senior Nara Lee placed first in the 100 Fly in 59.97, and senior Selah Dean won the 400 IM in 4:46.98.

For the men's team, senior Peter Meng won three events in three different strokes as an individual and helped the Spartans win the 400 Free Relay. Meng captured the 500-yard freestyle title in 4:41.24, won the 400 IM in 3:58.14, and placed first in the 200 Back with a time of 1:56.80. For the relay, he joined senior Ben Zuo, junior William Froass, and junior Mason Bencurik to finish in 3:09.39.

Froass and Bencurik each won races for CWRU, claiming the 50 Free, 100 Free, and 100 Back events. Bencurik placed first in the freestyle swims with times of 21.42 seconds and 47.25 seconds, and Froass touched the wall at 52.22 seconds in the backstroke. The duo was joined by senior Kevin Hu and first-year Edgar Rutkauskas for the 400 Medley Relay, winning the race in 3:29.12.

Senior Griffin Gushman contributed a victory in the 200 Free with a time of 1:43.38, and junior Adam Khatib won the 200 Fly in 1:55.70.

The Spartans continue their seasons on Saturday, October 19 with a dual meet at Division II Ashland University and a trip to Gambier, Ohio, for the Kenyon Relays. The dual begins at 11 a.m. and the relays start at 12 p.m.

Spartan Notes

• CWRU placed first in 26 of the 38 events contested at the invite with the men's team winning 10 events and the women's team winning 16
• Meng's time in the 400 IM was an NCAA B cut and broke Carr Pool's record in the event, last set in 1999
• The meet marked the Spartan debuts of Oria, Rutkauskas, and Tan, first-years Anna Berry, Chris Leuciuc, Owen Miao, Anisha Ojha, Sam Schultz, Vladimir Shibalov, and Edward Steward, sophomore Sheila Monera Cabarique, and graduate student Amy Evans