Over the weekend, a portion of the Spartan swim team traveled to the University of Chicago to compete at the Midwest Invitational. The women finished third after totaling 435.5 points, and the men earned 195 points to claim sixth.

The Spartan women broke two school records at the meet, both in relay events. The 200-yard freestyle relay team finished first with a time of 1:34.95, setting the new record. The previous record was 1:35.37 and was set at the UAA Championships, which occurred between Wednesday, Feb. 13 and Saturday, Feb. 16. The team was composed of fourth-year swimmer Suhan Mestha, second-year student Caitlyn VonFeldt, first-year student Daniella Rupert and fourth-year teammate Renee Decker.

The 400-yard medley relay also claimed first and set a new record of 3:50.41. The team made up of Mestha, VonFeldt, fourth-year Spartan Alexa Simoneau and first-year teammate Anna Smith bested the previous record of 3:51.72 which was also set at the UAA Championships.

Additional first place finishes for the women came from the 200-yard medley relay and the 800-yard freestyle relay. The 200-yard medley consisted of Mestha, VonFeldt, Smith and fourth-year Alli Drohosky, and the team finished in 1:44.73. The 800-yard freestyle finished with a time of 8:18.64. The team was made up of third-year Spartans Aleah Hixenbaugh and Victoria Schoenig, second-year student Sophia Vaccaro and first-year teammate C.J. Hill.

Schoenig and Vaccaro teamed up with third-year swimmer Rhiannon Reese and first-year student Emili Toppari for the 400-yard freestyle relay. The team took third with a final time of 3:45.91.

The Spartan men placed in several relay events. Fourth-year swimmer Keith Erichsen, third-year student Eli Rose and first-year teammates Seth Brown and Mathias Hostetler finished the 400-yard medley relay in 3:51.99, which earned them third in the event. For the 200-yard medley relay, Erichsen and Brown teamed with second-year Spartans Nathan Callithen and Chris Lemley. The team worked together to claim a fifth-place finish with a time of 1:40.17. Also finishing fifth was the 400-yard freestyle relay made up of Erichsen, Lemley, Hostetler and fourth-year teammate Vinicius Okada da Silva. The team finished in 3:21.82.

The Spartan swimmers will return to the pool at the NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving Championships. The divers will return to the water for the NCAA Diving Regionals which will take place on Friday, Mar. 1 and Saturday, Mar. 2.