
The Case Western Reserve University men's swimming and diving team turned in a successful 2018-19 campaign, going 8-2 in dual meets, winning the Wooster Invitational, and finishing sixth at the Midwest Invitational to conclude the season.
The Spartan men found success at the 2019 University Athletic Association Championships, hosted by the University of Chicago, with the 200-yard medley relay team of sophomores Will McDonald, Andrew Duffield and Jakob Woerner and freshman Calvin Tecson setting a season-best time of 1:34.12 in the event. The 800-yard freestyle relay team of senior Brody Schmidt, senior Keith Erichsen, freshman Neil Wible and freshman Ryan Gilbert also set a season-best mark in the event with a time of 6:55.48.
Erichsen also finished 13th in the 1,650-yard freestyle with a NCAA 'B' cut time of 16:11.36, while McDonald placed 11th in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:50.42. Sophomore Sean Twomey also added a 14th-place finish in the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 4:06.38. The Spartan men totaled 659 points over the four-day meet, finishing sixth at the conference championships.
Earlier in the year, Case Western Reserve won the Wooster Invitational in December, marking the ninth-straight time the Spartans have won the meet. The Spartans totaled 2,025 points to finish ahead of the other 10 teams, and outscored second-place Gannon by over 600 points. Spartan swimmers notched 10 individual top-three finishes at the meet, with Twomey claiming first in the 200-yard individual medley, first in the 400-yard individual medley and third in the 200-yard breaststroke, Tecson finishing first in the 100-yard individual medley, Schmidt placing second in the 200-yard breaststroke, Erichsen claiming third in the 500-yard freestyle, Duffield finishing second in the 100-yard breaststroke, Woerner placing second in the 200-yard butterfly, freshman Ryan Gorman claiming second in the 400-yard individual medley and sophomore Kyle Barclay finishing third in the 400-yard individual medley.
The Spartans turned in a solid dual meet campaign, winning eight of their 10 meets during the campaign, including a 2-1 record at home during the year. The Spartans racked up wins against John Carroll, Oberlin, Grove City, Gannon, Rochester (N.Y.), Ohio Northern, Notre Dame and Baldwin Wallace during the year. The team's only two losses during the season came to Carnegie Mellon and SUNY-Geneseo, both highly ranked Division III programs.
Spartan swimmers to record top-10 times in school history included McDonald in the 100 Back (51.22, best in CWRU history), 200 Back (1:50.42, second-best in CWRU history) and 200 IM (1:55.80, eighth-best in CWRU history), Tecson in the 100 IM (52.60, best in CWRU history) and 50 Free (21.01, fifth-best in CWRU history), freshman Neil Wible in the 100 Free (46.52, eight-best in CWRU history) and 200 Free (1:42.10, seventh-best in CWRU history), Schmidt in the 200 Free (1:43.24, 10th-best in CWRU history), 200 Breast (2:06.83, eighth-best in CWRU history) and 100 IM (56.47, eighth-best in CWRU history), Erichsen in the 500 Free (4:38.52, sixth-best in CWRU history), freshman Michael Clough in the 200 Fly (1:53.35, sixth-best in CWRU history) and 100 Back (52.07, sixth-best in CWRU history), Woerner in the 200 Fly (1:53.51, eighth-best in CWRU history), freshman Nicholas Schoenig in the 100 Back (51.66, fourth-best in CWRU history), sophomore Dakota Weinman in the 100 Back (52.53, ninth-best in CWRU history) and 200 Back (1:52.54, third-best in CWRU history), Gilbert in the 200 Back (1:53.60, seventh-best in CWRU history), Twomey in the 200 Breast (2:06.71, seventh-best in CWRU history), 200 IM (1:54.27, third-best in CWRU history) and 400 IM (4:04.70, second-best in CWRU history), freshman Michael Schiml in the 200 Breast (2:08.42, 10th-best in CWRU history), Gorman in the 200 IM (1:55.76, seventh-best in CWRU history) and 400 IM (4:06.36, fifth-best in CWRU history) and Barclay in the 400 IM (4:07.73, eighth-best in CWRU history). Sophomore Cassiel Yuzik was the team's top diver, recording scores of 396.05 in the one-meter dive (11 dives) and 404.10 in the three-meter dive (11 dives) at the 2019 UAA Championships.
In addition to their success in the pool, the Spartans were recognized by the CSCAA as a Scholar All-America Team, based on their team grade point average of 3.52 during the fall semester. Thirteen members of the men's swimming and diving team – Barclay, Nathan Callithen, Duffield, Erichsen, Mark Fox, Chris Lemley, Jonathan Liu, McDonald, Vinicius Okada da Silva, James Pierre, A.J. Quinn, Eli Rose and Woerner – received UAA Winter All-Academic recognition during the 2018-19 campaign.
The following were top times/ marks by Spartan swimmers and divers during the 2018-19 season:
50 Free |
21.01 |
UAA Championships |
|
100 Free |
46.52 |
UAA Championships |
|
200 Free |
1:42.10 |
UAA Championships |
|
500 Free |
4:41.66 |
UAA Championships |
|
1000 Free |
9:44.77 |
UAA Championships |
|
1650 Free |
16:11.36 |
UAA Championships |
|
100 Back |
51.22 *SR |
UAA Championships |
|
200 Back |
1:50.42 |
UAA Championships |
|
100 Breast |
58.55 |
Wooster Invitational |
|
200 Breast |
2:06.71 |
UAA Championships |
|
100 Fly |
51.42 |
UAA Championships |
|
200 Fly |
1:53.35 |
UAA Championships |
|
200 IM |
1:54.27 |
Wooster Invitational |
|
400 IM |
4:06.06 |
UAA Championships |
|
1-Meter Dive (11 Dives) |
396.05 |
Wooster Invitational |
|
3-Meter Dive (11 Dives) |
404.10 |
Wooster Invitational |
|
200 Free Relay |
1:24.55 |
UAA Championships |
|
400 Free Relay |
3:06.63 |
UAA Championships |
|
800 Free Relay |
6:55.48 |
UAA Championships |
|
200 Medley Relay |
Will McDonald, Andrew Duffield, Jakob Woerner, Calvin Tecson |
1:34.12 |
UAA Championships |
400 Medley Relay |
Nicholas Schoenig, Andrew Duffield, Jakob Woerner, Neil Wible |
3:27.93 |
UAA Championships |
*SR – Indicates school record