Scots to Close Out Dual Meet Schedule for Fall Semester

Logan LaBerge

The College of Wooster swimming and diving teams will wrap up the dual-meet portion of its fall semester schedule this Saturday, Nov. 17, when the Fighting Scots visit western Pennsylvania for a match-up with Westminster College (2-0 men, 0-2 women) at 1 p.m. Last year, the two squads competed at a neutral site, with the Westminster men and Wooster women prevailing by scores of 152.5-78.5 and 127-104, respectively.

Last Week: On Nov. 9-10, the Scot men’s team won the inaugural Veale Classic, edging host Case Western Reserve University 127.5-106.5 in Saturday’s championship meet, while the  Spartans turned the table in the women’s competition, as they knocked off Wooster 123-108. On Friday, both Scot teams easily advanced to the championship by defeating another northeast Ohio school, John Carroll University, 179-62 (men) and 153-86 (women).

The Wooster men kicked off Saturday’s action with a key victory, as the 400 medley relay team of Logan LaBerge (Towson, Md. / Towson), Andrew Olsen (Evanston, Ill. / Evanston Twp.), Brendan Horgan (Hudson, Ohio / Western Reserve Academy), and Michael Saltzman (Evansville, Ind. / Asheville School – N.C.) beat Case’s top foursome by less than a second (3:37.42 to 3:37.88). The meet remained close, with the Scots’ sophomore standout, Eric Babbitt (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. / Santa Margarita Catholic), and LaBerge finishing first (1:47.07) and second (1:50.55) in the 200 freestyle, respectively, to counter individual wins by the Spartans in three other events.

The area that may have been the difference in the meet was diving, in which Wooster took 1-2 on both boards. Alex Gauvin (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Community) took top honors in both, outscoring teammate Dustin Klein (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Fox Chapel Area) 217.10-181.85 on the one-meter and 210.55-171.25 on the three-meter.

Babbitt was a double winner in the meet with the Spartans, adding a victory in the 200 butterfly (1:58.59), while also posting a first-place finish was Kyle Oaks (Franklin, Ind. / Franklin Community) in the 100 free (49.42), and they combined with Horgan and Ryan Radtke (Willoughby, Ohio / Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin) for a 400 freestyle relay win (3:15.03).

During the women’s championship meet, Case jumped out to a 23-13 lead before the Scots’ Alice Case (Berkeley Hts., N.J. / Mount Saint Mary Academy) and Tamari Farquharson (Kingston, Jamaica / Mercersburg Academy – Pa.) touched first in the 200 free (2:02.50) and 50 free (25.44), respectively, which helped Wooster pull within 38-36. The Spartans won the next two individual races, sandwiched around Scot diver Caitlin McNulty’s (Sequim, Wash. / Sequim) one-meter victory (205.70).

Farquharson added her second win, this time hitting the wall in 55.14 in the 100 free, however, the Spartans took control from there. McNulty did add a sweep in the diving competition with a score of 186.25 on the three-meter, while the 400 freestyle relay consisting of Farquharson, Molly Bittner (Westfield Ctr., Ohio / Cloverleaf), May Tobar (Athens, Ohio / Athens), and Case also triumphed (3:44.26) for Wooster.

Friday’s men’s meet saw the Scots’ pick up individual wins from Radtke in the 1000 free (10:50.68) and 100 breaststroke (1:05.99), Jon Quiery (Danville, Pa. / Danville) in the 200 free (1:53.47), Babbitt in the 50 free (22.30), Adel El-Adawy (Cairo, Egypt / German) in both the 200 IM (2:05.18) and 100 back (56.57), Matt Dominski (Winnetka, Ill. / New Trier Twp.) in the 100 fly (56.34), Horgan in the 100 free (49.65), and LaBerge in the 500 free (5:06.92).