Abby Blinka

Michael Crookshanks

The College of Wooster swimming and diving teams bounced back from Friday's challenging dual meet against nationally-ranked Case Western Reserve University with convincing wins in Saturday's tri-meet over Baldwin Wallace University and Hiram College in Hiram, Ohio. Wooster's men outscored Baldwin Wallace 174-85 and Hiram 180-66, while the Fighting Scots' women's team posted victorious scores of 168-102 and 188-53 respectively.

The early part of the meet showcased Wooster's depth as five events came down to the wire with two Scots going head-to-head and finishing within a second of each other at the short-course meter facility.

On the women's side, Anna McGlade and Molly Laubernds started the action in the 200 freestyle when McGlade's time of 2:22.14 was backed up by Laubernds' 2:22.44. Next, Abby Blinka (1:21.05) out-touched Erin Drake (1:21.87) in the 100 breaststroke. Alexandra Desotelle took top honors in the next tight race with her time of 29.07 in the 50 free leading the way ahead of Jamie Hibbs' 29.47. Annabelle Hopkins stole the show with the closest finish in the 100 free when her time of 1:05.58 was followed by Blinka's 1:05.63.

Desotelle finished as a double-winner, with a time of 2:54.29 in the 200 breast.

Other women's highlights included Sarah Litt, who won the 800 free (10:04.68), before turning in the fastest time in the 200 individual medley (2:39.04).

On the men's side, Michael Crookshanks won the 200 free at 2:07.00, narrowly edging teammate Max Koch's 2:07.98. Crookshanks went on to turn in the fastest time in the 200 IM (2:25.72).

The men's depth was on display as well, as the Scots earned the top three finishes in four events. First, Ric Reynolds' time of 1:08.81 in the 100 backstroke was backed up by Ben Hopper (1:10.63) and Matthew Pech (1:10.89). Next, Zackary Pool led the charge in the 200 butterfly with a winning time of 2:15.61, ahead of teammates Garrett Layde (2:23.18) and Avery Wilson (2:28.64). Pool doubled-up in the win column in the 200 back (2:25.55) with Pech (2:29.87) and Wilson (2:33.12) rounding out the top three. Conner Gelwicks led the way in the 100 fly with the winning time of 1:01.52, ahead of Cameron Gelwicks (1:03.85) and Travis Burgess (1:07.38).

Wooster returns home to host Westminster College in a 1 p.m. dual meet next Saturday.