Anna Hartig
Staff Writer
This weekend, The College of Wooster swimming and diving teams hosted the Wooster Invitational at Ellen Shapiro Natatorium at Wooster High School, as well as Timken Natatorium. The women placed second, earning 1,370 points over the three days of competition.
This is one of the best showings the Fighting Scots have had since the Black and Gold meet in 2014 where the women earned second.
From Thursday to Saturday, the men’s team finished their races in strong fashion, earning 1,112 points to receive fourth place. This marks their best score since the Scots were victorious at the Wooster Invitational in 2009.
Leading the way for the women’s team, Emma Fikse ’18 finished second place in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:11.63. Fikse also logged one of the three sub-1:56 times in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:55.55.
Another highlight of the meet was the 1,650 freestyle, in which Fikse finished the mile swim at 18:03.92 to earn second place. Her fellow Scots occupied three of the top six spots including Sarah Padrutt ’18 who finished fourth place with a time of 18:13.93.
Maggie Layde ’18 and Anne Bowers ’21 qualified for the championship heat in the prelims of the 200 fly. Layde touched the wall at 2:11.69 in the prelims to return with nearly seconds off her time in the championship heat. Bowers brought the Fighting Scots more victory as she placed sixth place with a time of 2:14.62.
The women’s team was able to bring out their best this past weekend. Sara Fikse ’20, said, “The women’s team placed second, which is superb for us because we expected to place fourth. I think it sets us up really well as we look forward to our NCAC Conference Championship, where we hope to place third. As for me, I’m excited to continue a great season with strong, resilient women who inspire me every day in and out of the pool.”
This amazing teamwork and skillset was also seen on the men’s side of the swimming and diving team this weekend. Garrett Layde ’19 won the 200 butterfly for the second straight year at the Wooster Invitational.
Alongside Layde, Cameron Gelwicks ’19, Ryan Campbell ’19 and Griffin Campbell ’19 placed third in the men’s freestyle relay at 3:07.33.
Gelwicks broke Wooster’s record 200 freestyle at the 2016 NCAC Championships and was surpassed by his teammate Ryan Campbell last winter. Gelwicks was able to pull through with a quick time of 1:40.81 at the Wooster Invitational to place himself back on top of the leaderboard. This friendly competition between teammates will hopefully bring more success to the Fighting Scots as they train for Conference later in their season.
Matthew Pech ’18 said, “This weekend’s meet was a great mid-season checkpoint that allows us, as swimmers, to reflect on performances, make adjustments and set ourselves up nicely for conference championships in February.” As both teams prepare for competition, the Fighting Scots will be heading down to Florida for a training trip. Pech said of the excursion, “The best part about our training trip is all of the team bonding that goes on. We really become closer as a team and that only strengthens our program as we head into conference championships.”
Make sure to cheer on both the men’s and women’s swim and dive team as they take on Notre Dame College. The meet will be away on Friday, Jan. 12 at 5 p.m.