Wooster, Ohio - The Wittenberg men's and women's swimming and diving teams kicked off the Wooster Invitational with several solid individual performances in a strong field. Every team member who entered the pool at Wooster on Thursday achieved at least one personal- or season-best time, and the Tigers also saw numerous time drops from the prelims to the finals.
Heading into Day 2, Wittenberg's women stand seventh out of 10 teams with 141 points. The Tiger men are ninth with 42 points.
The top finish for either Wittenberg squad came from sophomore Shania Stone (Cincinnati, Ohio/Princeton). She placed seventh in the 50 free in a time of 24.70, which is the fourth-fastest time in program history. Stone was also a member of the 400 medley relay that scored team points with an eighth-place finish, and she also swam a leg on the 200 free relay that placed ninth.
S.enior Mackenzie Schuld (Rocky River, Ohio/Rocky River) also was a member of both relays, and she scored with an eighth place finish in the 500 free with a time of 5:21 as well. Freshman Sophie Paskiet (Toledo, Ohio/St. Ursula) was a member of the 400 medley relay, and she also placed 12th in the 200 IM. Sophomore McKenna Clark (Waynesville, Ohio/Carroll) contributed to both relays, and freshman Rebekah Lebold (Mount Vernon, Ohio/Mount Vernon) rounded things out with a leg of the 200 free relay.
On the men's side, senior Zach Parkman (Lancaster, Ohio/Fisher Catholic) was the top inidividual finisher in 12th place in the 500 free in a time of 4:55. Sophomore Mason Steen (Leroy, Ohio/Riverside) placed 21st in the same event, and he swam a leg of the 400 medley relay that finished 15th and a leg of the 200 free relay that placed 14th. Parkman was also part of the 200 free relay that dropped almost two seconds off its seed time in the evening's finals race.
Sophomore Owen Gabel (New Bremen, Ohio/New Bremen) and sophomore Drew Vincent (Fleming, Ohio/Warren) were also members of the scoring relays, and freshman Aidan Dannenfelser (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Xavier) rounded things out with a contributions to the 400 medley relay.