Scot Women Sweep Both Days of Allegheny Invitational

Liz Whittam

The College of Wooster women’s swimming team won both the sprint and distance portions of the Allegheny Invitational, while the Scot men were second in each event this past weekend (Nov. 5-6) at Meadville, Pa.

Traditionally an annual four-team event, just two squads competed on the women’s side as the Scots edged host Allegheny 447-415 on Friday night (sprints) and easily prevailed Saturday 706-550 (distance).

Wooster won both relays Friday (200 medley, 200 freestyle), while its top individual event was the 200 IM, in which Liz Whittam (2:14.29), Elizabeth Roesch (2:16.88), and Kim Chambers (2:19.68) swept the top-three positions. Whittam also touched first in the 100 butterfly (1:02.69) and was runner-up in the 100 breaststroke (1:11.28), while Roesch and Chambers were second and third, respectively, in the 100 backstroke with times of 1:03.64 and 1:03.86.

Whittam posted three more first-place finishes in the distance races – 200 breaststroke (2:31.09), 200 backstroke (2:15.35), and 400 IM (4:44.29) – giving her five on the weekend. Roesch earned individual wins in the 500 (5:19.63) and 1650 freestyles (18:46.68), and added runner-up performances in the 200 butterfly (2:24.93) and in the 400 IM (4:48.16). The Scots’ other victor on Saturday was Kathryn Lehner in the 200 butterfly (2:24.71), while Chambers contributed four top-three efforts – second in the 200 backstroke (2:16.95), second in the 1650 freestyle (18:54.21), third in the 500 freestyle (5:27.56), and third in the 400 IM (4:57.82).

There were three schools competing in the men’s field, with Wooster totaling 371 points in the sprints, behind Allegheny (489) and well ahead of the University of Findlay (96). The distance portion of the invite concluded with a similar result, as the Scots tallied 405 points to the Gators’ 750 and Findlay’s 69.

Highlighting Wooster’s individual results from the weekend was a 1-2-3 finish in the 200 butterfly, with Matt Dominski, Dan Noble, and Andy Nicol turning in times of 2:19.25, 2:19.62, and 2:21.85, respectively. That was just part of a big meet for Noble, who also won the 100 butterfly (59.86) and touched third in both the 200 IM (2:12.92) and 400 IM (4:50.15). Austin Carter and Joe Witkowski produced top-three showings in the 100 backstroke (59.45) and 1650 freestyle (18:45.87), respectively.