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Spartan swim team host Veale Classic this weekend

John Carroll University vs. Oberlin College 5 p.m.

Case Western Reserve vs. College of Wooster 7 p.m.

Consolation Meet 11:30 a.m.

Championship Meet 2:00 p.m.

Location: Veale Natatorium

Men’s Recap:

Spartans enter the Veale Classic with a 2-0 record for the first time since the invitational began. Case Western Reserve University trumped the University of Rochester and New York University at their first meet of the season. CWRU perennially trumps the Yellow Jackets, but fails to contend with the Violet came into the meet with a fresh mindset.

New head coach Doug Milliken has brought a new system and refreshing system for the men’s team. The first-year head coach, joined by fifteen first-year swimmers, returned victorious by considerable margins two weeks ago as they defeated NYU 205-154 and Rochester 244-116.

The Spartans won the 800-yard freestyle relay, one-twoing the event, as the CWRU A and B-team relays each finished over six seconds faster than the next teams. Freshman Gus Bailey led the Spartans in the 50-yard freestyle while junior Mike Lin and fellow first-year Heath Hudgins rounded out the top three spots.

Swimmer to Watch:

Robby Browning had a stellar meet in Rochester. Browning took first in the 100-yard backstroke with a winning time of 53.60. Browning also grabbed finishes in the top three in the 100-yard butterfly and 200-meter backstroke. He finished in 54.04 and 2:01.14 in each of those events, respectively.

Browning, a super senior, is a biology major. Having joined the team after transferring to CWRU in after a freshman year at Michigan State University, Browning quickly became a key scorer for the Spartans.

 

 

Women’s Recap:

The women’s swimming and diving team defeated the University of Rochester and nearly beat New York University at Case Western Reserve University’s first conference meet. The women defeated Rochester by a mere five points 179.5-174.5 but fell to the Violet by just eight points, 179.5-171.5

The women returned triumphant in the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 4:06.68. Freshmen Sarah Tillie and Maggie Dillione joined forces with junior Stephanie Campbell and senior Roxanne Leyshon to win the race. The quartet’s time places them tenth nationally in Division III. The quartet falls behind UAA powerhouses Emory University and Washington University.

Senior Jacquie Buckler was a double winner on the weekend, leading the Spartans sweep in the 100-yard breaststroke. Tillie and Leyshon followed closely behind, taking the top three spots for the Spartans.

Swimmer to Watch:

Maggie Dillione made a huge splash in her debut with the Spartans. A double winner in the 100- and 200-yard butterfly, Dillione showed little mercy as she won the 200-yard race in nearly eight seconds. Dillione broke one minute in the 100-yard butterfly, winning by over three seconds.

Dillione, a freshman, comes to CWRU from central Pennsylvania. A true butterflier, she will be a key component in the Spartans meet against Wooster on Friday night. Wooster defeated the Spartans in the championship meet last year so Dillione and the rest of the women’s team will hope to keep the title here in Cleveland.

 

Wooster:

The College of Wooster men’s and women’s teams are on completely different planes right now. The women have opened the season on a three meet win streak. The women have defeated the Mount Union College, Witterberg College and Ohio Northern University. The men, however, are still winless, dropping their first three dual meets to the teams above.

The Fighting Scots will clash with the Spartans at 7 p.m. at the Veale Natatorium for the first time in the preliminary round. The two team typically have met each other in the championship dual meet. The heightened competition means that the Scots have to come off the blocks at a high energy level to defeat an impressive Spartans squad.

John Carroll:

The John Carroll University men enter the Veale Classic on a two meet losing streak. The men defeated Wilmington College of Ohio in their opening meet 127-72 but drop their next two fixtures to Mount Union College and Notre Dame College.

The Blue Streak women enter the weekend with a 2-2 record, having swum one more meet than the men. Like the men, the women defeat Wilmington but dropped duals to Mount Union and Notre Dame. The women also defeated a very small Ursuline College squad 166-11.

The JCU men won against the Oberlin Yeomen last year in the consolation meet 162-91. The women, however, dropped the dual meet 156-138. The Blue Streaks and Yeomen dive in at 5 p.m. in the Veale Natorium with the winner on both the men’s and women’s side making their first appearance in the Veale Classic Championship.

Oberlin:

Oberlin College will swim this weekend after dropping their first meet of the season against College Swimming Coaches Association of America nationally ranked No. 2 Denison University. Denison a North Coast Athletic Conference foe defeated the men 180-55 and the women 167-75.

The Yeomen aren’t taking the tough loss personally; both teams are competitive in the NCAC and will pose tough opposition this weekend at the Veale Classic. While neither team are nationally ranked, the Oberlin women received 21 votes in the CSCAA poll, the highest amount of any team at the Veale Classic.

The women are favored to beat the Blue Streaks but the men will have a tougher meet cut out for them. They lost by 71 points last year and will need to gain momentum early on Friday to push a superior JCU squad.

 

Bold Predictions:

The Spartans show Wooster they aren’t the same team as in the past. Both the men and women jump out to early leads and don’t allow the Fighting Scots to come close. In the end, the No. 23 men show their youth as their 15 freshmen bag a several wins and push the CWRU relays to first. The women, coming off their first victory over Rochester in years, defeat Wooster to make their way to the championship dual.

Men: CWRU

Women: CWRU

John Carroll and Oberlin split their early matchup on Friday. The Oberlin women are victorious while the Blue Streak men run away from the Yeomen. The two squads make the championship for the first time, however the split creates a complicated arrangement of three teams swimming at one time in both the consolation and championship meets.

Men: JCU

Women: Oberlin

Wooster, relegated to the consolation meet for the first time, trumps the men of Oberlin and the women of John Carroll. Wooster, a team that predominately peaks late in the season, avenges their loss taking third place on both sides.

Men: Wooster

Women: Wooster

Behind a home crowd, CWRU opens with a pair of relay wins, setting the tone for rest of the dual meet. First-year head coach Doug Milliken leads the Spartans to wins on both the men’s and women’s side by significant margins. Captains Peter Fino and Steve Jacobs lead the men past JCU while captains Kelsey Zeller and Emma Call lead a enthusiastic women’s side past the Lady Yeomen.

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