Alexandra Desotelle

Aaron Salzman

A NCAA Div. III diving regional qualifying score from junior Aaron Salzman highlighted a successful Saturday afternoon inside the Timken Natatorium at Wooster, Ohio as The College of Wooster swimming and diving team cruised past Ohio Wesleyan University with the men taking a 142-87 decision, and the women winning by a 158-71 count.

Salzman turned in a score of 470.7 points on the 1-meter board, 45.7 points better than the 11-dive Div. III qualifying mark of 425 points. He will need one more qualifying score this season in order to compete at the NCAA Div. III diving regional competition. Salzman's score marked the second-highest in program history, trailing only Todd Stansbery's 1988 school-record mark of 488.5 points.

The opening relays for the Fighting Scots set the tone for the meet with both the men's and women's 400 medley quartets finishing just a shade under seven seconds better than the top relay from Ohio Wesleyan. On the women's side, it was Sarah Litt, Abby Blinka, Jamie Hibbs, and Annabelle Hopkins teaming up to turn in a 4:17.88. On the flip side, it was Conner Gelwicks, Frayne Poeting, Zackary Pool, and Aaron Brown turning in a 3:40.52.

Wooster's depth was on full display in the 200 butterfly with the Scots going 1-2-3 in both the men's and women's races.

On the men's side, Pool led the trio to the wall, touching at 1:59.57, ahead of Garrett Layde (2:04.11) and Travis Burgess (2:06.00). Litt led the trio of Wooster women with a time of 2:15.14, and was backed up by Maggie Layde (2:16.43) and Caroline Click (2:30.07).

The women continued to roll in the next event with Jillian Saccogna (57.73) and Lissy de la Chapelle (58.96) complementing Hibbs' first-place time of 56.17 in the 100 freestyle.

Wooster's women turned in two other 1-2-3 showings in the meet with Alexandra Desotelle (25.79), leading the way ahead of Emma Fikse (25.83) and Layde (25.88) in the 50 free, and later doubling-up on first-place events in the 200 breaststroke with Blinka (2:37.66), and Rachel Mandel (2:40.83) backing up the Scots' senior's time of 2:34.44.

Other strong showings on the women's side were turned in by Fikse (500 free), Molly Laubernds (200 backstroke) and Lena Smith (200 individual medley), who all turned in individual first-place finishes. In the diving well, both Morgan Day (391.6) and Theresa Spadola (390.55) both nearly had regional cuts of their own, finishing less than five points shy of the 395-point, 11-dive cut. For Spadola, the score marked a career-best and moved her from eighth to fifth on the College's all-time top-10 list.

In the men's meet, backstroke specialist Conner Gelwicks won at one of his signature events, taking the 200-yard race with a time of 1:57.67. Earlier in the afternoon, the junior standout placed first in the 200 IM with a winning time of 2:02.36.

Cameron Gelwicks added a first-place time of 1:46.95 in the 200 free, while Poeting turned in the winning time of 2:19.55 in the 200 breast.

Next, Wooster closes out the home portion of its schedule with a 1 p.m. dual meet against Allegheny College on Saturday, Jan. 23.