Centre Swimming & Diving hosted its annual Battle of the Bluegrass on Saturday at Champions Hall. The Colonels welcomed Case Western Reserve and Franklin for two rounds of competition. Both men's and women's teams fell short against Case Western Reserve but picked up wins over Franklin.

The men beat Franklin 364-104 and fell to Case Western Reserve 275-211. The women took out Franklin 267-218 and lost to CWRU 303.5-182.5.

The action started with the women's 200 medley relay. Centre's "A" team was tight with the same from Case Western Reserve through the first 2 legs. CWRU then took the lead after 3, but Caroline Lee turned in a blistering performance as her anchor leg time of 23.74 gave Centre a come-from-behind win, just one-tenth of a second better than that of Case Western Reserve in a 1:50.13.

Jack Liau and Gavin Schoeling nearly did the same for the men in the same race. Liau's 3rd leg split of 23.05 and Schoeling's blistering 21.35 allowed the Colonels to rally for a 2nd place finish. Sarah Feild took 2nd in the 1000 free in a time of 11:04.31, while Brady Miller dominated the men's 1000 free in a time of 9:37.22 and a margin of victory nearing 5 seconds.

Caroline Lee took 2nd in the 50 free in a time of 24.78, just .05 off the winning time from CWRU. Xavier Moore took 3rd in the men's 50 free in 22.04 seconds. Ava Gates picked up points in the women's 400 IM with a 2nd place effort in 4:48.39. Jack Liau picked up a runner-up spot in the 100 fly, while Caroline Lee swam 3rd in the 100 free.

The Colonels returned to the win column in the 100 back as Xavier Moore came home in 52.34 seconds and the two fastest first and second splits in the race. Sarah Feild followed with a 2nd place finish the 500 free as did Brady Miller, who missed the win by just 4 tenths of a second. Two more wins soon followed as Ava Gates won the 100 breaststroke, followed closely by Natalie Cox. Tiernan Moore did the same as Gates by winning in a time of 58.26.

In the afternoon session, Caroline Lee showed once again why she swims anchor in relay races. Her 100 time of 54.38 was over 6 seconds faster than her teammates and allowed Centre to rally for a 2nd place finish and more valuable points. In the men's 400 medley, Centre was led by Liau and Schoeling again. Liau's 3rd leg of 51.00 seconds was over 2 seconds faster than the field and proved the difference as the Colonels won the race by 1.33 seconds. Schoeling's run of 46.82 ensured the win.

Brady Miller returned for another go in the 1000 free in the afternoon session and showed he was still the man to beat. His winning time of 9:44.69 was over 21 seconds faster than anyone else in the field. Natalie Cox picked up a win in the 200 IM just 0.76 seconds ahead of Ava Gates in second. Jack Liau picked up another win in the 200 fly with a 1.44 second win in 1:55.63. Sarah Feild continued her consistent run in the long distance races with another 2nd place go in the 500 free. Brady Miller flexed once more in the 500 free as he won the afternoon race by 9.1 seconds.

Ava Gates took home another win the 200 breaststroke in 2:25.55 to win by over 6 seconds. Tiernan Moore followed suit with a win in the men's race. In the final women's relay of the day, Centre finished 2nd in the 400 free. Led by Katelynn Stanczyk, making her season debut, the Colonels swam in 3:45.68. Stanczyk was fastest in her split as she went her 100 in 54.89 seconds.

In the first diving session of the day, Riley Taylor finished 3rd in the women's 3 meter with a total score of 180.30. Erin Dannemiller was just behind with 178.70 points. In the second 3-meter round of the morning, Dannemiller upped her game to a 2nd place finish with a score of 219.60. Sara Jean Postle moved up to 4th with a 192.50.

Centre's men were on the 1-meter board in the morning session. The Colonels dominated the first go around with 5 of the top 7, led by Justin Toth's score of 285.75. Garrett George was 2nd with 276.85 with Brandon Anderson in 4th, Ben Reynolds 6th and Garrett Urash in 7th. When the morning session entered the 2nd run, Toth won again with 287.65 points. Brandon Anderson vaulted to 2nd with 282.20. Garrett George was 3rd with 257.20 points.

In the afternoon session, the women took their turn on the low boards. Riley Taylor placed 4th in the first session with 189.10 points. Erin Dannemiller and Sara Jean Postle were close behind in 5th and 6th. Dannemiller once again was 2nd in the last session on the low board with a score of 215.00. Taylor finished 4th with just under 200 points.

For the Centre men, Garrett George was the story on the 3-meter boards. The senior dominated the first round with 300.35 points. Justin Toth was second and nearly 20 points back. Brandon Anderson was 4th with 247.05 points. In the final session, George upped his game again and left the field in his wake. He won the final 3-meter rounds with a total score of 312.90, over 41 points better than 2nd place, Brandon Anderson. Justin Toth slipped back to 3rd.

The Colonels now get set for an early November weekend trip to Indiana, starting with a duel at DePauw on Friday, November 7th at 6:00pm.