The Observer, January 27, 2006
Volume XXXVIII, Issue 14
Men's swim earns five wins at SUNY Fredonia
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Fresh off a training trip that included five hours of practice a day, the tired Spartans embarked on an epic contest against UAA foe Carnegie Mellon University on Jan. 14. Sophomore Elaine Hou clinched the first individual win in the 200-yard freestyle in 2:03.62. Case's Janine Machala, Elizabeth Ehrke, and Carrie Stoila had strong swims in the 100 breaststroke to take second, third, and fourth respectfully. Perhaps the most exciting swim of the meet came from senior Hannah Webber in the 200 butterfly. After toying with CMU's top two flyers for the first 150 yards, Webber ended their fun and games by flying up from third to a solid win in 2:19.80. Later, Webber took another huge win in the 200 backstroke with a 2:15.18, more than three seconds ahead of second. Hou stepped up again in the 500 freestyle to take first with a time of 5:28.06. Freshman Lisa McHale had two huge wins in both the 100 butterfly with a 1:01.41 and the 200 IM with a 2:18.29.
Case's men started the meet with an impressive swim from senior Justin Daggett in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:46.64. Freshman Seth Hazlett won the 200 butterfly by nearly six seconds, a huge margin, with a 2:01.89. Junior John Erickson beat three of CMU's sprinting giants in the 50 freestyle in 22.39. Case's Bernie Jacobsen won both the three-meter and one-meter diving. Despite all of these great performances, Case couldn't pull out a win against CMU but are eagerly waiting for when they will meet again, shaved and tapered, at the UAA championship in February.
Last weekend Case competed both Friday night at home against Denison and Saturday afternoon at SUNY Fredonia. Saturday's meet in Fredonia was a quad meet including SUNY Fredonia, Ithaca College, and Rochester University, a UAA rival. The meet began with a solid medley relay of Caitlin Gruenhagen, Machala, McHale, and Webber beating out Rochester in 4:17.70. Sophomore Becca Winarski took second place in a close 50 freestyle with a time of 26.16. The 200 butterfly was a solid win by McHale in 2:21.51, more than five seconds ahead of Rochester. Hou had an outstanding swim in the 500 freestyle finishing second overall with a time of 5:28.06. Case had a strong presence in the women's 200 breaststroke as well, especially Machala who finished in 2:36.42, beating out Rochester and Fredonia. The women's 400 freestyle relay had some outstanding swims, particularly the relay of Lindsay Stahl, Winarski, Hou, and Betsy Howe.
Case men's team also began with a great medley relay. The team of Anthony Roshetsky, An-Shih Lee, John Sommerville, and Erickson had a convincing win with a time of 3:43.80. Seniors Daggett and David Loomis were able to take second and third place in the 1000 freestyle with two fantastic swims of 10:10.59 and 10:25.32 respectively. Case's sprinters were on fire this Saturday, finishing first and second in the 50 freestyle. Senior Bobby Malinoski took the win with a 22.40, immediately followed by Erickson in 22.43. Hazlett scored another win for Case in the 200 butterfly with a 1:58.49. Sprinters again took center stage with first and third finishes in the 100 freestyle. Daggett clinched the win with a 49.34 followed by freshman Brian Grady with a 50.94. Lee and Junior Dan Donoto took first and second over Rochester in the 200 breaststrokes with times of 2:20.75 and 2:21.07 respectfully. As the meet neared the last event, Case's men knew a win in the 400 freestyle relay meant an overall win for the meet, so the pressure was on Hazlett, Grady, Malinoski, and Daggett to bring the victory home. In 3:16.55 the victory was declared as Case pounded on the University of Rochester, beating Rochester's best team by over one second.
Tomorrow, Case faces Wittenberg at 1 p.m. in the Veale Natatorium. This is also the last duel meet of the season in which the seniors will receive special recognition.
