Peter Parisi

Alex LaJoie

Peter Parisi and Alex LaJoie led The College of Wooster's men's swimming and diving team to seventh-place (597.5 points) at its own Wooster Invitational, which saw 10 teams compete Thursday through Saturday at Wooster High School's Ellen Shapiro Natatorium. Case Western Reserve University (1467) narrowly edged out Ohio Northern University (1456.5) for the top spot in a highly-competitive field that included some NCAA Div. II schools.

Several Scots produced impressive individual results during the three-day meet, but no one was more dominant than Parisi, who broke one of his own school records and recorded a "B" cut time for the NCAA Div. III Championships.

On Thursday, Parisi took second-place in the championship finals (top-eight) of the 50 freestyle (21.50), and then he kicked off Friday's action with a third-place finish in the 200 medley relay (1:35.56) along with teammates LaJoie, Brian Maddock, and Imre Namath.

Later Friday, Parisi broke the school record that he set in the 100 butterfly at last year's Wooster Invitational (50.99) by touching the wall in 50.55, which was good for another second-place finish and an NCAA "B" cut time. Then as an encore, Parisi took first in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 57.85, which nearly met another "B" cut standard (57.81).

LaJoie was also a key contributor, as he gave the Scots their only other first-place honor by winning the 400 IM (4:14.55) on Friday. He also touched the wall third in the 200 IM (1:56.39), fifth in the 200 backstroke (1:58.19), and was a member of the previously mentioned third-place relay team, as well as the fourth-place 400 medley relay that also consisted of Parisi, Maddock, and Namath.

Other notable swims included Namath's fourth-place effort in the 50 freestyle (21.69), which was just a stroke behind classmate Parisi. Namath also competed in the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke consolation heats, taking 12th (54.41) and 14th (48.50), respectively.

Maddock won the consolation finals and placed ninth overall in the 200 backstroke (1:58.97), and nearly garnered the same result in the 100 backstroke (54.14), but settled for 10th-place. Lastly, Evan Hagedorn had a solid showing in the "bonus" heat of the 100 breaststroke (1:01.81).

The Scots will be back in action Jan. 13 in a dual meet at Hiram College.