For the second consecutive day, junior Peter Meng of the Case Western Reserve University men's swimming and diving team earning All-University Athletic Association honors, placing third in the 1650 Free on Saturday during the fourth and final day of the 2024 UAA Championships held at the Myers-McLoraine Pool inside the Ratner Athletic Center in Chicago.
Meng placed third in the distance freestyle event, finishing the race in an NCAA B Cut time of 15:39.10 to earn the bronze. He swam the first 1,000 yards of the race in 9:27.83, besting his previous school record across that distance of 9:28.77 set at last fall's Total Performance Invitational. Meng became the first member of the CWRU men's swimming and diving team to earn multiple All-UAA honors in the same championship since Oliver Hudgins received three medals in 2017 and the first to place in the top three in the 1650 Free since Jake Peterson finished third in 2000.
CWRU ended the day by setting multiple school records in the 400 Free Relay. Sophomore Emil LaSida led off the race with a 100 Free time of 45.19 seconds, breaking the previous record of 45.29 seconds held by teammate Mason Bencurik. Meng, sophomore John Drumm, and Bencurik finished the swim in 3:01.39, an NCAA B Cut time that broke their own previous record of 3:02.43 from the fall.
Drumm just missed All-UAA honors in the 200 Fly, placing fourth in the A Final with an NCAA B Cut time of 1:47.70. Sophomore Adam Khatib placed 12th with a time of 1:50.86 in the B Final, and junior Kevin Hu and sophomore Joshua Hernandez qualified for the C Final, placing 18th (1:52.50) and 24th (1:55.91), respectively.
Bencurik and LaSida competed in the 100 Free with each qualifying for a final. Bencurik placed eighth overall with a time of 45.67 seconds after recording the sixth-fastest prelims time of 45.52 seconds. LaSida placed 22nd, completing the C Final in 46.26 seconds.
On the diving board, junior Alex Waltman placed seventh in the 1-meter dive with a score of 417.15. First-year Jack Rudofsky added a 13th-place finish after scoring 327.20.
Four Spartans reached finals of the 200 Breast, led by senior Ethan Chuang, who placed 11th with a time of 2:02.54 in the B Final. Junior Jiro Batt touched the wall at 2:06.01 in the same race after turning in a prelims time of 2:04.47. In the C Final, sophomore Spencer Ahten finished in 2:06.87 to place 22nd, and junior Ben Zuo placed 23rd with a time of 2:07.05.
Joining Meng in earning points for Case Western Reserve in the 1650 Free were juniors Stephen Hogeman, Michael Butler, and Griffin Gushman, and senior Sean Yetter. Hogeman led the group with a time of 16:11.41 to place 16th, and Butler finished 19th in 16:16.84. He was followed by Gushman with a time of 16:17.89, and Yetter contributed a point with a 24th-place finish in 16:35.05.
Finally, in the 200 Back, first-year Michael Boelens placed 19th with a time of 1:52.15 and junior Jace Creech placed 21st in 1:52.63 in the C Final.
Overall, CWRU finished sixth in the team standings with 812.5 points. Emory won its 25th consecutive conference championship, scoring 1,711.0 points. NYU was the runner-up with 1,431.0 points, host Chicago placed third with 1,348.5 points, Carnegie Mellon was fourth with 1,202.0 points, and WashU finished fifth with 1,105.0 points. Rochester (509.0 points) and Brandeis (393.0 points) rounded out the conference standings.
Spartan swimmers will have one final chance to improve their times for qualification to the NCAA Championships, racing at the Midwest Invitational on February 23 and 24 at the University of Chicago. CWRU divers will next compete in the NCAA Diving Zone Regional, hosted by Denison University in Granville, Ohio, on March 1 and 2. The 2024 NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships will be held from March 20-23 in Greensboro, North Carolina.
