Alex LaJoie

Peter Parisi

The College of Wooster's men's swimming and diving team broke program records in five events, four of which qualified as "B" cuts for the NCAA Div. III Championships, highlighting a sixth-place finish at its own Wooster Invitational, which was held at Wooster High School's C.T. Branin Natatorium this Thursday through Saturday.

The Scots scored 837 points during the three-day meet, which sandwiched them between fifth-place Westminster College (976) and seventh-place Malone University (741). Case Western Reserve University took the team championship with 1630 points, while Ohio Northern University (1475.5) and Div. II schools Gannon University (1063.5) and Edinboro University of Pennsylvania (986) rounded out the top-four.

Peter Parisi had a hand in three of the five record-breaking results, with two coming in solo swims and the other as a member of a relay team. Individually, Parisi placed third and reset his own school records in both the 100 fly (49:83) and 100 breaststroke (56.99), reaching "B" cuts along the way, and also took second-place in the 50 free in a time of 21:45.

Then in relay action, Parisi teamed up with Alex LaJoie, Brian Maddock, and Imre Namath in the 200 medley, where the school-record holders surpassed their own mark (1:34.47) by a full second in 1:33.24 to place third and garner another "B" cut.

It was LaJoie who picked up Wooster's other "B" cut during the prelims of the 200 back, where he clocked in at 1:52.81 to edge out former Scot Logan LaBerge (1:53.86) for the school's fastest time in the event. He later went on to place second in the championship finals (top-eight), despite touching about two seconds slower (1:54.95) than he did in the prelims. Also noteworthy, LaJoie took fourth in the 200 IM in 1:56.40.

Maddock broke a school record as well, as he surpassed teammate LaJoie's time in the 100 back (52.33) with his fourth-place swim of 52:01. Other notable swims from Maddock came in the 200 back, where he won the consolation heat in 1:56.11, and he also added a 16th-place effort in the 200 fly (2:01.35).

Other individuals with solid results include: Nameth winning the consolation heat of the 50 free in 21:68, as well as placing 12th and 17th in the 100 back (53.99) and 100 free (48:30), respectively, James Love took 12th in the 100 fly (52:18) and won the bonus heat of the 200 fly in 2:01.35, Evan Hagedorn placed 13th in both the 100 breast (1:01.22) and 200 breast (2:01.07), Peter Hause swam to 14th-place finishes in both the 100 fly (53:41) and 200 fly (2:01.35), Elliot Ferrier was 15th in the 200 back (2:04.54), and Zackary Pool won the bonus heat of the 200 back in 2:01.50.

Finally, the Scots had two other strong relays efforts, with the 400 freestyle team of Ferrier, Joe Wilch, Hagedorn, and Zach Rashid winning the event in 3:25.93, while the 400 medley team of Pool, Hagedorn, Steven Hardy, and Love placed third in 3:40.45.