WOOSTER, Ohio – Junior Garrett Layde won the 200 butterfly for the second straight year at the Wooster Invitational, and The College of Wooster swimming and diving teams climbed another spot in the team standings on the final day of competition at Ellen Shapiro Natatorium at Wooster High School.
For the women, Wooster's second-place finish marked the Scots' best showing since the Black and Gold also earned a runner-up finish in 2014. The Scots' logged 1,370 points over the three days of competition.
On the men's side, Wooster's fourth-place finish marked the best since the Scots won the meet in 2009. Wooster checked in with 1,112 points.
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| Junior Garrett Layde won the 200 butterfly for the second straight year at the Wooster Invitational. |
Layde, who overtook a competitor in the final 50 yards in the 200 fly to win last year, surged into the lead during the third 50-yard split and never looked back en route to a 1:53.14, :01.7 better than the runner-up time. The Scots scored a pair of swimmers in the event as sophomore Trey Schopen backed Layde's effort up with the fifth-place time of 1:57.16.
Earlier in the day, Wooster loaded up in the 100 individual medley - a first-time event to the meet - and a relatively new optional event at the conference level. On the women's side, the Scots occupied places two-through-seven with first-year Larissa Lamarca leading the charge in 1:03.91. In fact, all six of the Scots' top-seven finishers turned in sub-1:06 times. Sophomore Megan Gross (1:03.91), junior Kalla Sturonas (1:05.03), and first-year Michelle Sayre (1:05.09) rounded out the Scots in the top five in the event.
On the men's side, junior Griffin Campbell placed third at 53.67, and he wasn't that far off of his school-record time of 52.84 set at the 2017 North Coast Athletic Conference Championships. Noteworthy, the Scots placed five in the top eight, including first-year Craig Klumpp, who was fifth with a time of 56.86.
Switching back to the women's events, junior Emma Fikse hit the wall at 18:03.92 in the grueling 1,650 freestyle, good for a second-place time. In fact, this was another strength for the Scots as Wooster occupied three of the top six spots, including senior Sarah Padrutt's fourth-place effort of 18:13.93.
Senior Maggie Layde gave the Scots a trio of runner-up finishers on the night. Layde, who turned in a 2:11.69 in the prelims of the 200 fly, shaved off over a second in the championship heat, where she went 2:10.16. First-year Anne Bowers also qualified for the championship heat, and she settled for sixth-place at 2:14.62.
In the 200 backstroke, first-year Hannah Langer turned in another strong effort, this time with her 2:11.16 placing seventh. In fact, Langer turned in a nearly identical time of 2:11.15 in the prelim heats held earlier on Saturday.
The Scots also picked up key points in the diving well where sophomore Cleo Potter placed fifth on the three-meter board with 301.3 points.
The women's team capped the meet with a 3:37.81 in the 400 free relay, good for fifth-place. The Scots' quartet consisted of Fikse, Layde, and first-years Brooke Brown and Lexi Riley-DiPaolo.
In the men's individual events, junior Cameron Gelwicks lowered his best time in the 100 free to 46.60 in the prelims, with the time ranking as the third-fastest in program history. In the finals' sessions, Gelwicks and classmate Ryan Campbell turned in matching 46.81s to tie for fourth-place.
Gelwicks and Campbell teamed up with Layde and junior Griffin Campbell to place third in the men's 400 free relay at 3:07.33.
Case Western Reserve University swept the team titles with 1,984.50 points on the women's side, and 1,899 points in the men's standings.
Wooster's next dual meet takes place on Friday, Jan. 12 at Notre Dame College (Ohio), and is slated for a 5 p.m. start.