Henry Schneiderman
Sports Editor
Last Saturday, Nov. 16, the Fighting Scots swim and dive teams hosted Grove City College in a thrilling matchup. After an intense day of swimming, diving and team spirit, the women’s team emerged victorious over the Wolverines while the men’s team just barely fell to their bite. “ Coming off the heels of numerous competitive competitions, Wooster sought victory in this head-to-head matchup.
“I was really excited about the first dual meet of the season,” Abbey Quick ’25 said. “It was good vibes.”
The women began the day with a strong showing in the 200 medley relay as a quartet of Hallie Findlan ’25, Izzy Bellefleur ’25, Elizabeth Theobald ’28 and Ollie Bream ’25 found victory in the event with a time of 1:53.28 — beating out the Wolverines by 0.59 seconds. Bream, motivated by the win, recorded 3 more victories, finding first place finishes in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:10.17, the 100 fly at 59.26 and the 200 Individual Medley in 2:16.48.
Emma Humbert ’26 was victorious as well, placing first in the 200 freestyle and the 500 freestyle with times of 2:03.99 and 5:33.52, respectively. JP Timken ’25 followed Humbert’s 500 freestyle effort as she finished the race in 5:34.53, which earned her third place. Findlan continued Wooster’s winning streak with success across multiple events, winning the 50 freestyle with a time of 25.05 and the 100 freestyle at 54.70. Findlan also finished second in the 100 backstroke, completing the race in 1:04.4.
Bellefleur zoomed past the competition in the 100 and 200 breaststroke, finishing second in both with times of 1:12.49 and 2:37.27 — a mark closely followed by third place finisher Maggie Layne ’28, 2:38.43. Kate Peck ’27 commanded the 1000 freestyle, completing the race in 11:39.11 to place first. The Scots also scored well in the 200 free relay as a team of Keara Wiley ’26, Charlotte Helm ’27, Patricia Chen ’26 and Timken placed third at 1:48.46. Many swimmers on the women’s team were satisfied by the team’s victories at the meet.
“I think overall it was good to be at home and winning was good,” Celia Gehrke ’25 said. “Everyone did better than the last meet too.”.
In the meet’s diving events, Fighting Scots from both the men’s and women’s team swept the competition. Cady Eakins ’25 cleaned house in the 1 meter, scoring 146.90 to win for the women while Blu Catanzaro ’26 led the men with a score of 188.10, coming in just ahead of their teammate Noah McDonald ’26 who scored 184.15. In the 3 meter, Eakins was once again the meet’s lead competitor as she won the event with a score of 127. Catanzaro and McDonald led the men in a different order, as McDonald scored a 180.85 in the 3 meter — ahead of Catanzaro’s 177.50.
On the men’s swimming side, Isaac Shaker ’25 delivered the team their only win of the meet as he completed the 200 fly in 1:59.53. He then placed third in the 200 backstroke and the 200 individual medley with times of 2:05.59 and 2:02.67, respectively. The men’s relay teams each put forth consistent efforts as both finished second in their respective events. In the 200 medley relay, Will Laymon ’26, Nathan Ferrence ’25, Marek Kaszynski ’28 and Callum Glover ’26 recorded a time of 1:38.67 for the runner-up position. Ryan Gross ’25, Ethan Neuner ’27, Will Laubacher ’26 and Glover nabbed the same result in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:31.17. Glover went on to place second in the 50 freestyle at 22.31 and third in the 100 freestyle at 49.35.
Laubacher and Laymon were also not done for the day as they finished second in the 1000 freestyle and the 100 backstroke with times of 10:41.09 and 55.16, respectively. Boston Sullivan ’26 served as the team’s lead in the 100 breaststroke — he crossed the finish in 1:01.26, while Tucker Andrewjeski ’25 led the Scots in the 200 breaststroke, finishing the race in 2:15.64. Furthermore, Phillipp Drappatz ’27 placed third with a time of 5:07.11 in the 500 freestyle, while Gross completed the 200 freestyle in 1:52.34 for this same position.
“I was pretty spot on with my swims — I felt better than I have most of the season,” Stu Bovich ’26 reflected. “I’m glad to have gotten some better seed times for the Wooster Invitational.”
This dual meet against Grove City served as a competitive, yet fun event for the team. “I’m so proud of how the team did this Saturday,” Eakins exclaimed, “There were a lot of amazing swims and dives by both the men’s and women’s teams. Special shoutout to the women’s team for a solid team win!”
This sentiment was echoed by Laymon, who expressed gratitude for the event’s turnout and the attendance of numerous of the team’s professors who came to watch the day’s events. “The meet was awesome,” he said, “Wooster put up the most epic battle. Thank you to the professors for attending.”
The women triumphed 169-119 while the men fell short at 193-101 in a matchup thrilling on both ends. With these results, Wooster has developed a taste for victory that they will seek to quench in future competitions.
“As a team we did really well, especially for the point in the season we are at,” said Rachel Frank ’27. “It can be difficult to stay motivated when we’ve been working for so long, as a team we worked hard, put in a lot of effort and performed well!”
Next up, the Fighting Scots will host the Wooster Invitational at home on Dec. 5-7. Go Scots!
