Cal U wins Grove City Winter Invitational

GROVE CITY, Pa. (Dec. 4) – The Vulcans captured a first-place team finish at the Grove City Winter Invitational on Saturday after winning a combined 15 events (11 individual) and setting six invitational records at the two-day, six-team event.

The California University of Pennsylvania swimming team posted 883.5 points to earn its second first-place finish this season. Washington & Jefferson placed second with 716 points, followed by Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC)-members Lock Haven (610.5) and East Stroudsburg (563).

Junior Melissa Gates (Leola, Pa./Conestoga Valley) continued her torrid season by winning a combined seven events (three individual), setting a combined six invitational records (two individual), breaking her own school record and posting another NCAA Championship automatic-qualifying time. The three-time All-American won the 50 freestyle, set a school record, broke the pool record and automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships with an astounding time of 23.26 seconds, which broke her own invitational record by over two-tenths of a second. In the 200 freestyle, Gates again set an invitational record and reached a NCAA ‘B’ qualifying time by touching the wall in 1 minute, 53.96 seconds. She posted another victory in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:26.61.

The 400 freestyle relay of freshmen Clarissa Enslin (Dalview, South Africa/St. Andrews School for Girls), Jess Machmer (Canton, Pa./Canton), Stephanie Bolt (Sundsvall, Sweden/Skvaderns Gymnasieskola) and Gates set a pool and invitational record with a time of 3:30.70.

As an individual, Enslin posted a pair of victories and NCAA ‘B’ qualifying times at Grove City. The freshman from South Africa won the 200 IM with a time of 2:11.01 and also posted a win in the 100 freestyle after touching the wall in 51.60 seconds.

The 800 freestyle relay of Bolt, sophomore Georgia Emert (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield), Enslin and Gates broke the pool and invitational records with a time of 7:42.78, winning the event by over 30 seconds.

Emert claimed a pair of individual victories and reached NCAA ‘B’ qualifying marks in the 500 freestyle (5:07.29) and 200 backstroke (2:08.72). Freshman Kate Mellon (Queensland, Australia/Mansfield State) also reached a NCAA provisional time after winning the 1650 freestyle with a time of 17:57.48. She also won the 400 IM after touching the wall in 4:45.20.

Cal U won and set invitational records the 200 freestyle and 200 medley relays. In the 200 freestyle, Enslin, freshman Kelsey Nuhfer (Warren, Pa./Warren), Bolt and Gates posted a time of 1:36.24, while the 200 medley of sophomore Kasey Travitz (Millersburg, Pa./Millersburg), Gates, Machmer and Enslin touched the wall in 1:47.39.

Sophomore Bruna Carvalho (Belem, Brazil/Milton Campos) earned victories in the 100 and 200 butterfly over the weekend. In the 100 butterfly, she posted a time of 59.37 seconds and registered a mark of 2:11.01 in the 200 butterfly.

The Vulcans are idle for over a month before returning to action at the Citrus Classic Swim Meet on Jan. 7 in Mesa, Ariz.