Senior Cameron Gelwicks and junior Nell Kacmarek won men's and women's 500 freestyles to headline the opening day of action at The College of Wooster swimming and diving team's annual Wooster Invitational held at Ellen Shapiro Natatorium. Wooster's in fourth-place in the men's standings at 259 points, while the Fighting Scots are also in fourth-place on the women's side with 241.5 points.

Gelwicks came within two seconds of his program record during the preliminary heats of the 500 freestyle and earned the top time for finals at 4:38.58. Then in the evening session, Gelwicks logged a similar time of 4:39.54.

Wooster's signature event on Thursday was the 500 freestyle, as the Scots had four student-athletes qualify for the championship heats, including winners Cameron Gelwicks and Nell Kacmarek (pictured).

Kacmarek rose to the occasion in the finals by cutting nearly three ticks off her prelim time to claim the blue ribbon at 5:13.26. The junior's 5:16.08 in the prelims was the second-fastest time.

The bulk of Wooster's non-relay scoring came in the 500 freestyle thanks to seniors Ryan Campbell and Emma Fikse qualifying for the championship heat. Campbell placed fourth at 4:42.76, with that time falling within two seconds of his personal best, while Fikse's 5:14.49 netted her a third-place showing.

In relays, Wooster delivered a strong showing in the 400 medley, as both of the Scots' women's entries placed within the top nine. Sophomore Hannah Langer, first-year Molly Likins, sophomore Anne Bowers, and Fikse touched fourth at 4:01.78, while the quartet of first-year Mia Chen, sophomore Madison Whitman, senior Annabelle Hopkins, and sophomore Kate Murphy wasn't far behind at 4:06.33, which was good for ninth-place. Fikse, Likins, and Murphy opened the meet with sophomore Brooke Brown on the 200 freestyle relay, which placed seventh at 1:39.84.

On the men's side, both of Wooster's "A" relays claimed fifth-place showings. Junior Trey Schopen, Gelwicks, senior Burke Poeting, and Campbell opened the meet with a 1:25.61 in the 200 freestyle relay, with Schopen and Gelwicks capping the night with sophomores Josh Gluck and Craig Klumpp in the 400 medley relay that clocked in at 3:30.94.

Other top-16 individual swims were turned in by Brown in the 50 freestyle (15th, 25.05), Poeting in the 50 freestyle (15th, 22.33), sophomore Kera Sells in the 500 freestyle (15th, 5:28.49), and senior Garrett Layde in the 200 individual medley (16th, 2:00.82).

Case Western Reserve University leads the field with 528 points on the men's side, and 579.5 points on the women's side.

Friday's action features preliminary heats at 10 a.m. and the finals session at 6 p.m. at Ellen Shapiro Natatorium, located at Wooster High School. Diving events will take place at 2 p.m. at Timken Natatorium, located on the College's campus.