This weekend the Gustavus Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving teams are looking forward to competing in the MIAC Championships at the University of Minnesota.
According to a poll from CollegeSwimming.com, the Gustavus Men’s team is currently one of the three MIAC men’s teams, along with St. Olaf and St. Thomas, ranked in the top 25 of Division III programs.
The Gustie men recently faced St. Thomas in a dual meet and fell 155-146 in a very competitive meet. “As a team, the guys have lost a couple of meets, but they were really close meets that could have gone either way,” Senior Andrew Michelson said.
Against St. Thomas, the Gusties were able to gain eight first place finishes, including two from Junior Whitaker Davis. Davis won both the 200 butterfly and 500 freestyle, while also finishing second in the 100 freestyle and helping to gain a first place finish in the 400 freestyle relay.
Other first place finishes included Seniors Skylar Davis, Ross Elenkiwich and Kyle Johnsrud, as well as Junior Paul Kirihara and Sophomore William Schultze.
The Women’s team also had a dual meet against St. Thomas but came away with a 168-126 victory. This victory was largely attributed to the ten first place event finishes and eight second place finishes. Senior Carrie Gundersen had four of the wins while Senior Maggie Hansvick had another three wins. In addition to Gundersen and Hansvick, Sophomores Eydie Kramer and Dajana Vidovic, as well as First-year Carley Mosher all had individual wins.
The Gusties also finished first in both of the relay events. Mosher, Hansvick, Sophomore Stephanie Korba and First-year Sarah Hund won the 400 medley relay while the 400 free relay was won by Senior Jonna Berry, Hund, Gundersen and Vidovic.
Hund, Vidovic, Berry and Gundersen currently have the best relay time in the 200 freestyle. Other top times include Mosher, Hund, Korba and Hansvick, who hold the best time in the 200 Medley relay. Mosher, Hund, Vidovic and Gunderson also compose a 400 freesyle relay team with the top time. The Women’s team simply dominates in the relays, as it also holds the top time slot in the 400 medley with the team of Mosher, Hansvick, Korba and Hund.
Gundersen has the best individual times in the 500 and 1650 freestyle. Along with Gundersen, Mosher holds individual bests in the 200 back, 100 fly and 200 individual medley.
Recently the Men’s and Women’s Diving teams competed in the MSU Diving Invitational. The Gusties performed well as Senior Bill Klein finished first in both the one and three meter dives. For the women, Senior Brittani Matzke finished second in the one meter and third in the three meter dive.
The MIAC Championships will be very close, with both the Men’s and Women’s teams having more than a chance of success. For the men and women, St. Thomas will pose a big threat. “They really want to win this year and I want to make them cry. Indeed it will be a hard-fought battle,” Michelson said.
“[The MIAC Championship] is one of the craziest fun meets you will ever go to, and everyone should think about coming up to the U of M to watch the Men and Women’s Swimming and Diving Teams,” Michelson said.