Spartans set nine records, Dillione 200 fly champion
The No. 16 Case Western Reserve University men’s swimming and diving team picked up a fourth-place finish while the women finished sixth at the 2013 University Athletic Association Championship.
The men dropped a spot from their third place finish in 2012 to fourth, while the women moved up one place.
Emory University continued its unprecedented dominance with its 15th- straight title on both the men’s and women’s side.
The No. 6 Emory men finished first with 1,818.5 points. No. 13 Carnegie Mellon University surged on the final day to finish second with 1,300 points. No. 12 University of Chicago finished third with 1,230.5 points. The Case men finished fourth with 1,184.5 points. No. 14 Washington University finished fifth with 1,067 points.
The women’s side was won by defending national champion No. 1 Emory who finished with 1,955 points. No. 8 Chicago finished second with 1,435 points and No. 10 Washington was third with 1,219.5 points. No. 7 Carnegie Mellon was fourth with 1,192.5 points and No. 19 University of Rochester was fifth with 874.5 points. Case finished sixth with 739.5 points.
Individually, sophomore Elliott Kerbel sped through the water in the second-fastest time in school history in the 50-yard freestyle, picking up a third-place finish and All-UAA recognition with a time of 20.83 seconds. Kerbel was a hair away from John Erikson’s record of 20.79, set in 2007. The time also qualified Kerbel for an NCAA “B-Cut”.
Junior Scott McHenry picked up an individual school record with a time of 1:41.85 in the 200-yard freestyle preliminary heats. McHenry ended up seventh overall with a time of 1:42.05.
Junior Sean Nickley also picked up a fifth-place finish and NCAA “B-Cut” in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:05.61.
Freshman Aaron Tam posted a sixth-place finish in his first UAA Championship with a time of 16 minutes, 22.24 seconds in the 1,650-yard freestyle.
Freshman diver Connor Farrell had an impressive debut at the UAA Championships and was the men’s leading diver. Farrell picked up a fourth-place finish on the one-meter springboard on the opening day of competition with a score of 463.25 points. Farrell then set a program record with a score of 506.10 points on the three-meter springboard finished in fifth place.
The men also picked up a second-place finish and All-UAA honors in the 200-yard freestyle relay as Kerbel, sophomores Caleb Allen and Eric Haufler and junior Gus Bailey finished 1:22.83, over two seconds faster than the school record of 1:24.68.
Also earning All-UAA recognition was the 400-yard freestyle relay of junior Heath Hudgins, Kerbel, Bailey, and Allen who finished third in 3:04.90, also setting a school record.
A fifth-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay also earned the men another school record as sophomore Andrew Bollinger, Nickley, Bailey, and Kerbel touched the wall in 1:32.98. The men also set another school record in the 400-yard medley relay as Bollinger, Nickley, Haufler, and Kerbel finished sixth in 3:25.50.
The women were led by junior captain Maggie Dillione, who earned a conference championship with a record-breaking performance in the 200-yard butterfly. Dillione lowered her school record to 2:03.20, missing the NCAA “A-Cut” by just .27 seconds. Dillione also picked up a runner-up finish in the 100-yard butterfly finishing in 56.57 seconds.
Junior Sara Tillie also had an impressive performance at the UAA Championship, setting a school record and earning a NCAA “B-Cut” in the 200-yard individual medley. Tillie finished 11th in the event with a time of 2:07.53, breaking the program record set by 2012 graduate Stephanie Campbell of 2:08.55. Tillie also picked up a “B-Cut” with an eleventh place finished in the 400-yard individual medley with a time of 4:35.20.
Sophomore Brianna Cain picked up a school-record of her own with a time of 1:06.84 in the 100-yard breaststroke preliminary heats. Cain ultimately finished eighth with a time of 1:07.52 in the final.
The women also picked up a seventh-place finish in the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 3:59.57. Swimming in the relay were freshman Rachael Loek, Tillie, Dillione, and freshman Rebecca Pakradooni. The same quartet also had a sixth-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The Spartans also had a fifth-place finish in the 800-yard freestyle relay with a time of 7:51.96 with a team of Pakradooni, freshman Alison Thirion, Dillione, and Tillie.
A handful of Spartans will travel back to Chicago this weekend for the Midwest Invitational in an attempt to earn qualifying times for the NCAA Division III Championship.