No. 22 men upset No. 19 ONU 118.5-100.5, women 175-123

The Case Western Reserve University swimming and diving teams gave their seniors a winning sendoff as the Spartans swept visiting Ohio Northern University on Saturday at the Veale Natatorium. The women topped the Polar Bears 175-123, on the back of four double winners. Meanwhile, the College Swimming Coaches Association of America No. 22 men had a thumping 188.5-100.5 upset of the No. 19 Ohio Northern men.

Case will graduate four student athletes this season, as Chris Emr, Kyle Tepe, Tim Wibowo, and Krysta Paine are all in their final years as Spartans.

The women improved to 7-9 overall in dual meets this while Ohio Northern fell to 7-6. The women were led by a quartet of double winners as juniors Maggie Dillione and Sara Tillie, sophomore Abby Glenn, and freshman Rebecca Pakradooni all won two individual events.

The men improved to 13-2-1 overall and are undefeated in dual meets against Division III competition. The men won eight individual events, but just had one double winner as defending UAA Diver of the Week Daniel Jacobson won both of his events on the day. Jacobson won the one-meter event with a score of 285.45 points and the three-meter event with 266.90 points.

Emr had an impressive showing during his final home meet as a Spartan as he cruised to victory in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of four minutes 53.96 seconds. Tepe had a fifth-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle and was part of the Spartans third-place 400-yard medley.

Sophomore Eric Haufler had a hand in three CWRU wins as he won the 200-yard freestyle in 1:46.33 and also was on each of the Spartans’ winning relays. Sophomore Elliott Kerbel was the victorious Spartan sprinter as he took home the 50-yard freestyle title in 21.61 seconds. Freshman Aaron Tam was the winning distance swimmer as he hit the wall first in the 1000-yard freestyle in 10 minutes 1.20 seconds.

The Spartan men won both of the backstroke disciplines as sophomores Andrew Bollinger and Alex Haufler combined to win the 100- and 200-yard backstrokes, respectively. Bollinger finished in a time of 53.87 seconds while Haufler won in 1:58.36.

The men won both relays as Bollinger, junior Sean Nickley, Eric Haufler and Gus Bailey won the 400-yard medley in 3:31.03. Eric Haufler would then team up with Kerbel, Bailey and junior Heath Hudgins to take home the meets final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay in 3:12.23.

Senior Krysta Payne was the women’s lone senior and finished her final home meet with a third-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke and a second-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke.

Senior captain Dillione keyed the Spartans victory, picking up wins in the 50-yard freestyle with a showing of 24.95 seconds and the 100-yard butterfly in 59.33 seconds. Tillie won the 200-yard freestyle in 2:01.21 and the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:35.59. Glenn won both distance events for the women with wins in the 1000-yard freestyle in 11 minutes 15.21 seconds and the 500-yard freestyle in 5:26.35. Pakradooni capped her exceptional rookie season with wins in both the 200-yard butterfly in 2:14.93 and the 100-yard freestyle in 55.69 seconds.

The Spartans also received wins from sophomore Brianna Cain in the 100-yard breaststroke and junior Kathryn Madalena in the 200-yard individual medley. Cain touched the wall in 1:11.21 while Madalena finished first in 2:19.39.

The women also won both relays as Rachael Loek, Tillie, Pakradooni and Dillione each swam legs in the winning 400-yard medley relay that finished in 4:08.04. The women also won the 400-yard freestyle relay in 3:42.95 as Tillie, freshman Alison Thirion, Pakradooni and Dillione teamed up in the meet’s final event.

The Spartans will look to finish out their regular season next Friday, Feb. 1, at cross-town rival Baldwin-Wallace College at 6 p.m. The meet against the Yellow Jackets will be the team’s last before the University Athletic Association Championship at the University of Chicago on Feb. 13-16.