Courtney McGovern, pictured here during Friday's action at the Wooster Invitational, registered a "B" cut qualifying time for the NCAA Div. III Championships in the 200 backstroke.

Led by Courtney McGovern's performance in the 200 backstroke, The College of Wooster women's swimming and diving team solidified its fourth-place standing out of 10 teams during the third and final day of the annual Wooster Invitational, held at Wooster High School's Ellen Shapiro Natatorium. The Fighting Scots men's team also remained in the same position that it started the day in, eighth-place.

Wooster's women's squad completed the event with 1,039 points, only finishing behind two strong NCAA Div. II schools from northwestern Pennsylvania – Edinboro University (1,574) and Gannon University (1,355) – as well as Westminster College (1,116.5). The Scots beat out a couple of notable Ohio Div. III foes in Case Western Reserve University (1,010) and Ohio Northern University (940), and four others.

McGovern raced to a 2:05.28 in the 200 back, a "B" cut qualifying time for the NCAA Div. III Championships. She was runner-up in the event, only behind a competitor from Edinboro who notched a "B" cut for the Div. II national meet (2:04.10). Also of note, McGovern's time was just two hundredths short of the school record.

Wooster's next-best individual showing in the women's meet came from Kara Markham, who took fifth by covering the grueling 1650 freestyle in 18:10.55, and joining McGovern with advancements into championship finals were Sarah Litt in the 200 butterfly and Alex Desotelle in the 200 breaststroke. Litt earned seventh-place (2:14.53) and Desotelle eighth (2:35.29).

Complementing Desotelle in the 200 breast, Kaitlyn Fries won the consolation heat for ninth-place (2:31.80) and Rachel Appleton was 11th overall (2:33.17), while Litt had support in the 200 fly with Anna Duke 12th in that event (2:15.92) and Colleen Kill 15th (2:17.21).

The Scots also received notable swims from Theresa Dunne, who came in 10th in the 1650 (18:32.41), and Anna McGlade and Morgan Hughes, who went 11th (53.94) and 12th (53.96), respectively, in the 100 free, as well as the fourth-place 400 freestyle relay team of McGlade, McGovern, Desotelle, and Hughes (3:37.86).

While Brian Maddock was Wooster's top finisher on the men's side for the second consecutive day via a fourth-place in the 200 backstroke (1:54.90) after nearly setting the school record in the 100 back on Friday, it was Conner Gelwicks with maybe the most noteworthy showing as the freshman concluded his breakout meet with a sixth-place in the 1650 free (16:51.65) and a seventh in the 200 back (1:57.18).

Also in the pool, Jacob Earle, another first-year, won the consolation finals of the 200 breaststroke for ninth-place (2:12.30), followed by teammate Evan Hagedorn in 13th (2:13.40), and another freshman, Aaron Brown, took 14th in the 100 free (48.40).

The Scots gained a significant boost in the diving competition, which took place at Timken Natatorium, with freshman Aaron Salzman earning runner-up honors on the one-meter (340.45), and Bryan Smith notching fourth-place (281.70).

After final exams, Wooster will take its annual winter training trip to Florida, and then its next official competition will be a home dual against Ohio Wesleyan University on Jan. 11, at 1 p.m.