Just one week after the conference swim meet, a small squad of swimmers went to compete at the two-day Midwest Invitational, hosted by the University of Chicago. While the full Case Western Reserve University swim team was not in attendance, the few that did make the trip had big performances.

A team composed of swimmers who did not participate in the conference meet and swimmers looking to get stronger national times were competing for CWRU. The Spartan women scored a total of 405 points in the two day meet, enough for a second place finish. The CWRU men totaled 180 points for a fourth-place finish.

Head Coach Doug Milliken was very happy with his teams’ efforts and performances.

“Overall I was very pleased,” said Milliken. “The meet is done in a very quick timeline, so it can be tough to swim events without much rest, but the team was able to achieve some great swims and compete very well.”

On the men’s side, first-year swimmer Eli Rose notched his career-best time of 4:37.34 in the 500-yard freestyle which was good enough for ninth in the event. Third-year swimmer John Kilbane was able to place second in the 100-yard breaststroke. Third-year swimmer Oliver Hudgins had a very productive meet as he finished in first place in the 200-yard freestyle and fourth-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle.

The relays also had solid performances as Rose, Kilbane and Hudgins worked together with second-year swimmer Brody Schmidt in the 400-yard medley relay resulting in a third place finish. Kilbane teamed up with fourth-year swimmer Andrew Henning, third-year swimmer Tommy Petro and first-year swimmer Konrad Katterle in the 200-yard medley relay for a fourth place finish.

On the women’s side, second-year swimmer Ashley Schuett finished fourth in the 100-yard backstroke recording a time of 1:01.68, fifth in the 100-yard freestyle in 55.09 and ninth in the 50-yard freestyle in 25.32. First-year swimmer Becca Segel placed fifth in the 200-yard butterfly, sixth in the 200-yard IM in a career-best time and eighth in the 100-yard butterfly. Third-year swimmer Kaitlyn Gorski won a third-place finish in the 1,650-yard freestyle, fourth in the 200-yard freestyle and a seventh-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle with a season-best time of 5:25.15. Keeping the women’s individual performance winning streak strong was first-year swimmer Joanne Tan. She placed fifth in the 200-yard IM, seventh in the 200-yard backstroke and recorded a ninth place finish in the 400-yard IM.

The relays also did not disappoint for the Spartan women as Gorski and Tan also teamed with third-year swimmer Abigail Dessart and second-year swimmer Karine Zeidan in the 400-yard medley relay to finish second in time of 4:24.64. Schuett and Segel teamed with first-year swimmer Erin Hartmann and fourth-year swimmer Selena Mufti in the 200-yard freestyle relay to place fifth with a time of 1:45.91.
CWRU will now turn their attention towards the NCAA Division III Championship Meet which will take place from March 15-18. The swimming selections to the NCAA Championships were released on Wednesday, Feb. 22, with the Spartans’ men’s 800 free relay team of Hudgins, Schmidt, Henning and fourth-year swimmer Drew Hamilton chosen. The NCAA diving choices are scheduled for Friday, Feb. 24 and Saturday, Feb. 25.