The Case Western Reserve University men's and women's swimming teams broke a pair of school records and recorded six NCAA B cuts on the first day of the Total Performance Invite at the Steen Aquatic Center in Gambier, Ohio, on Thursday.
The women's 400 Medley Relay of seniors Simone Vale, Kate Menzer, and Gabriella Chambers and junior Claire Kozma recorded a school-record and B cut time of 3:49.19 to place fourth in the event. The quartet broke the previous record of 3:49.31 set by Menzer, Kozma, Chambers, and Erica Rice at the 2024 University Athletic Association Championships.
For the men's team, junior John Drumm broke a 10-year record in the 500 Free, finishing with a time of 4:28.20 to place third in the A Final and earn an NCAA B cut time. Drumm broke the previous record of 4:28.98, set by Drew Hamilton at the 2015 UAA Championships.
Kozma, Vale, and Chambers were joined by senior Kelly Vann for the 200 Free Relay, placing fourth and earning a B cut with a time of 1:34.23. Individually, Chambers and Kozma had B cut times in the 50 Free with Chambers touching the wall at 23.52 in the A Final to place seventh and Kozma qualifying for the A Final with a prelims time of 23.57. She placed 10th in the final in 23.69.
Senior Peter Meng had the team's sixth B cut time, registering a time of 1:49.28 in the A Final of the 200 IM, placing fifth.
Menzer reached the B Final of the 200 IM, placing 13th in 2:06.86. Vale and Vann competed in the B Final of the 50 Free, placing 14th and 15th, respectively with times of 24.11 and 24.17. First-year Marina Oria finished one spot behind them in 24.28 seconds.
Also qualifying for a B Final were sophomore Ava Ellis and junior Lauren Valentine, both in the 500 Free. Ellis placed 17th in 5:14.94 after a preliminary time of 5:08.95, and Valentine finished 18th in 5:15.92 following a time of 5:14.26 in the prelims.
The men's 200 Free Relay of juniors Ben Borvendeg, William Froass, and Mason Bencurik and senior Ben Zuo placed fifth in 1:23.13, and the 400 Medley Relay of Froass, Drumm, Bencurik, and first-year Edgar Rutkauskas, finished sixth with a time of 3:19.88.
Individually, Rutkauskas, Bencurik, and Borvendeg qualified for B Finals. Rutkauskas placed 14th in the 200 IM in 1:52.38, Bencurik finished 15th in the 50 Free in 20.84, and Borvendeg finished 17th in the same event in 20.96 after a preliminary time of 20.89.
Three Spartan seniors were also among the top 20 finishers in a pair of events. Griffin Gushman and Joshua Hernandez placed 17th and 18th, respectively in the 200 IM with times of 1:53.05 and 1:53.33. Finally, Stephen Hogeman placed 20th in the 500 Free in 4:40.18 after a preliminary time of 4:37.26.
The second day of the three-day invitational will begin at 10:30 a.m. on Friday. The CWRU diving team will also start the two-day CMU Diving Meet on Friday, beginning the competition at 4 p.m. in Pittsburgh.
