Swimming & Diving

The Case Western Reserve University swimming teams delivered multiple standout performances at the Magnus Cup Invitational at Cleveland State University (CSU).

For the men’s team, first-years Michael Butler and Peter Meng earned “B” cut times in the 1,650-yard freestyle. In doing so, Butler set the school record with his fourth-place finish of 15:47.83, besting the previous record of 15:54.06 set by former Spartan Drew Hamilton in 2015. Meng took a sixth place finish at 15:54.41. Third-year Xander Guerrero finished in ninth place with a time of 16:22.67.

In the 200-yard breaststroke, second-year Ethan Chuang earned the fourth-plate finish with a “B” cut time of 2:03.14. First-year Jiro Batt finished eighth with 2:05.31.

The 400-yard freestyle relay team—composed of Meng, first-year Jackson Pollard and third-years Campbell Patterson and Andrew Smith—broke the school record with a time of 3:03.35, claiming fourth place. The previous school record was 3:03.87 set in 2016. Pollard broke the 100-yard freestyle record as he anchored the relay team with a time of 45.88. Earlier in the day, Pollard also earned eighth place in the 100-yard freestyle, completing the distance in 46.21.

In the 200-yard backstroke, fourth-year Kelvin Tay took sixth place (1:53.09) and fourth-year Ryan Gorman finished eighth (1:54.04). Third-year Anatole Borisov earned fifth place (24.17) in the 50-yard backstroke and Smith took fifth place (1:52.85) in the 200-yard butterfly.

The men’s team ranked third at the meet, earning 956 points over the three days of competition. CSU took the win with 1,859 points.

On the women’s team, third-year Abby Halsdorfer placed 14th with the “B” cut finish of 17:32.80 in the 1,650-yard freestyle. Third-year Johanna Pearson came in 20th after completing the distance in 17:48.29.

First-year Gabriella Chambers, first-year Simone Vale, third-year Maria Pritchett and first-year Isabel Verheyen combined their efforts in the 400-yard freestyle relay competition and earned 14th place, finishing the event in 3:31.65.

In the 100-yard individual medley, first-year Liz Cao earned 13th place (1:01.60), first-year Elishka Bailey took 20th (2:06.39) at the 200-yard backstroke, first-year Erica Rice earned 20th (2:29.00) in the 200-yard breaststroke and first-year Kate Menzer took 21st (2:08.13) in the 200-yard butterfly.

The women’s team placed ninth after accumulating 182 points. The University of Akron earned first place with 1,769.50.

The diving teams traveled to Pittsburgh to compete in the Carnegie Mellon University Diving Invitational.

For the men’s team, first-year Nico Billoni notched sixth place in the 3-meter dive, scoring 451.70. Fellow first-year Alex Waltman came in eighth after scoring 442.20.

The women’s team was led by first-year Abigail Wilkov who stole the show on the 1-meter and 3-meter dives. Wilkov crushed the 1-meter dive, placing second with a school record of 477.15 points. This bested the previous record of 371.55 set in 1995. First-year Jocelyn Schechter brought in 432.95 points to notch a fifth-place finish in the event.

Wilkov earned another second-place finish in the 3-meter dive after scoring 459.65. She also broke the previous school record mark of 391.275 set in 1996. Second-year Rei Miyauchi scored 412.10 for eighth place.

Wilkov, Schechter, Miyauchi, Billoni and Waltman secured NCAA Regional Qualifying scores at the competition.

The swimming and diving teams will resume competition on Saturday, Jan. 15 against State University of New York at Geneseo. 

Wrestling

At the Baldwin Wallace (BW) Invitational in Berea, Ohio on Saturday, Nov. 20, four athletes placed in their respective weight classes.

Third-year Mitchell Arch opened the competition with a pin in 1:16 against Kyle Emsley from Ohio Wesleyan University. In the next round, Arch pinned BW’s Max Orzadek in 1:30. Arch pinned Lourdes University’s Luke Thornton in 4:04 but eventually fell to BW’s Tanner McHugh in the semifinals by a 7-4 decision. Arch earned third place in the 149-pound weight class after adding two more wins. He improved to 11-4 for the year and notched a team-high nine pins.

Fourth-year Jack Chipps lost his first match to BW’s Luke Hopkins by 4-1 decision, but went on to win two straight consolation rounds, earning a pin in 31 seconds over Wilmington College’s Adrian Salomone and taking a 16-1 technical fall win over Delaware Valley University’s Cooper Kidd. Chipps secured sixth place in the 165-pound weight class.

Third-year Alex Torres tallied nine team points after going 1-3. His only win came by fall after he pinned Ohio Wesleyan’s Geoffry Kaminsky in 4:47. Torres earned sixth place in the 197-pound weight class.

Fourth-year Patrick Hebreard also managed to earn a sixth place finish in the 133-pound weight class after taking a medical forfeit win over Lourdes’ Dru Wilson. Hebread earned 8.5 team points.

The Spartans earned a combined score of 52.0 and finished in seventh place. Baldwin Wallace emerged victorious with 493.5 points.

The wrestling team will compete in the Rochester Institute of Technology Invitational in Rochester, New York on Saturday, Dec. 4 to finish off the fall semester of competition. Their season will resume on Saturday, Jan. 8 when they will take part in the Waynesburg Invitational in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania.