No. 12 men remain undefeated, women improve to 2-7

The Case Western Reserve University swimming and diving teams picked up a pair of solid wins at Allegheny College: the men’s team topped the Gators 157-131 and the women won 154-139. The meet was the Spartans’ first of the spring semester after a week and a half of exhaustive training along the sunny Gulf Coast.

The men showed no signs of rust or fatigue from heavy training over the break as they continued on their undefeated streak. The Spartans, ranked No. 12 by the College Swim Coaches Association of America, improved to 9-0 in dual meets.

Things got off to a shaky start for the Spartans; the Gators dominated the opening 400-yard medley relay by nearly eight seconds. Allegheny’s A relay of Mirno Pasquali, Andrew Bean Brandon Intrieri, and Teddy Wassell cruised to a first-place finish with a time of 3:34.18. The Spartan A relay finished second in 3:41.84 with the team of freshman Alex Haufler, sophomores Sean Corcoran and Scott McHenry, and freshman Andrew Bollinger. The Gators then took home the blue ribbon in the next two events running out to a 34-23 lead.

Alex Haufler and Bollinger singlehandedly cut the deficit to pieces, finishing in the top two spots in the 100-yard backstroke. Haufler finished in 53.81 seconds with Bollinger close behind in 54.63 seconds.

Sophomore Sean Nickley and freshman Eric Haufler took home the next two events; Nickley won the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:00.75 and Haufler won the 200-yard butterfly in 1 minute, 58.82 seconds.

Sophomore Nick Clyde added a victory in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:14.37.

Sophomore diver Daniel Jacobson was a double winner for the Spartans, finishing the 1-meter with 306.60 points and the 3-meter with 279.50 points.

The men closed out the meet with a one-two finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Clyde and sophomores Heath Hudgins, Scott McHenry, and Gus Bailey finished first in 1:27.18. Freshmen Elliott Kerbel, Bollinger, Tony Zhang, and Eric Haufler cruised to second place in 1:28.14 by a four-second margin.

The women started off their meet with the Gators on a high note with a win in the opening 400-yard medley relay. Stephanie Campbell, Sara Tillie, Maggie Dillione, and Jessica Nuhfer finished first in a time of 4:05.39.

Campbell, a senior captain of the Spartans, took home a pair of individual titles, winning the 100-yard backstroke 1:01.00, 200-yard backstroke in 2:11.46. Dillione finished first in both the butterfly events, in 58.88 and 2:10.22 in the 100- and 200-yard events respectively. Tillie finished first in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:34.57 seconds and in the 200-yard individual medley in 2:17.48.

The women then took home a crucial victory in the final event, with Nuhfer, Campbell, and sophomores Catherine Gormley and Dillione finishing first in 1:41.68.

The Spartans return home for their final home meet of the season before hosting the UAA Championships on Feb. 15-18. The Spartans will host Baldwin-Wallace College tonight at 6 p.m. in the Veale Natatorium for Senior Night. The next day the Spartans travel to Ohio Northern University to swim the Polar Bears at 1 p.m. The ONU men are currently ranked No. 16 by the CSCAA while the women are unranked.