Wooster Invitational

Scot swimmers compete at Wooster High

Lincoln Plews

Staff Writer

The College of Wooster women’s swim team delivered another impressive performance at the Wooster invitational this past weekend, finishing third out of the 10 teams and raking in 1,161 total points.  The Scots fell short only to Division II schools Edinboro University (1467) and Ganon University (1656.5).

A strong individual performance came from Melissa Haug ’12, who brought home first place in the 200 butterfly, second place in the 100 butterfly, and a sixth place in the 200 individual medley.   Haug’s times in the 100 butterfly and 200 butterfly also qualified her for a “B” cut for the NCAA Division III Championships.

With the regular season nearly halfway over, Katherine Hunt ’13 reflected on the Wooster Invitational and the Scots’ progress so far this year. “The women’s team had a lot of impressive swims this weekend. Girls are stepping up and really starting to show their potential… I think everyone has a better idea of the things they can work on for the rest of the season.”

The College of Wooster men’s team finished seventh out of the ten teams with 597.5 points.  There were several impressive individual performances, but chief among them was the swimming of Peter Parisi ’13.

Parisi broke his own school record in the 100 butterfly with a time of 50.55 seconds, earning himself an NCAA Championships “B” cut time in the process.  He also took first in the 100 breaststroke, second in the 50 freestyle and helped bring home third in the 200 medley relay with teammates Alex Lajoie ’13, Brian Maddock ’15, and Imre Namath ’13.

Despite his record setting performance, Parisi remains focused on his ultimate goal: making it to the Division III National Championships. “It felt good,” Parisi said, “but the real goal for me is to get invited to swim at nationals in Indianapolis. Making progress is definitely heartening and I feel like I am moving forward, even if that progress is slow. We will see how the hard work pays off in February.”

Lajoie brought home the Scots’ only other first place finish by winning the 400 individual medley, as well as tacking on third place in the 200 individual medley and fifth in the 200 backstroke.