Swimming and Diving

The men’s and women’s Swimming and Diving teams had a strong showing during the month of January. The Men looked good for a victory over Carleton and took second place at the seven-team Grinnell Invite.  The Gustie Women, meanwhile, have been red hot, winning all four of their meets during January.

Sophomore Alissa Tinklenberg and Senior Billy Schultze have performed particularly well, and were named the January female and male student-athletes of the month, respec-tively. Schultze won a pair of events at the Grinnell invite, and three events in a duel against Carlton earlier in January.  Tinklenburg has simply been killing it since winter break, winning 15 of the 16 events in which she participated.

The Gustie men take to the pool this weekend at the Minnesota Challenge in Minneapolis hosted by the University of Minnesota.

 

Men’s Hockey

Since the start of the new year, the Gustie Men are 5-2-1, with an overall record of 12-6-3. They are currently sitting at fourth place in the MIAC, and they have a pair of crucial series coming up against St. Mary’s this weekend and St. Olaf next weekend.  St. Olaf is currently in second place in the MIAC, just one point ahead of the Gusties.

In the last few weeks, this team has shown incredible tenacity and grit. They came back from a three goal deficit against St. John’s on Jan. 13, 2012, scoring four goals in the final 23 minutes of play to win 4-3, and just last Friday they beat Hamline 4-3 after First-year Forward Andy Pearson scored with a mere 17 seconds remaining in the third.

The powerplay had struggled for much of the season, but is looking better after the Gusties netted a pair of goals with the man advantage against Hamline last Friday.  The Gusties are second in the league in scoring despite the powerplay slump, so defensive consistency will likely determine the team’s success this year.

 

Women’s Basketball

The Gustavus women are an impressive 11-2 since the winter break, and are currently sitting in second place in the conference standings with a 17-4 overall record. The team started out hot by winning their first nine games of the new year, resulting in a 12 game win streak that stretched back to December 5, 2011.

The two losses on either end of that win streak were both St. Thomas. The Gusties fell to the Tommies in a 60-69 battle on Dec. 3, 2011, and then again on January 28, 2012 (72-52 final). Then, after getting back in the “win” column against Augsburg, the Gusties fell to St. Olaf for their second straight loss against a playoff-bound team.

Only four victories from that 12-game win streak were against teams that are currently in the MIAC’s top six. The Gusties need to beat good teams before the playoffs and they’ll have the opportunity to do so as three of their final four games are against winning teams. The Gusties have clinched a playoff spot and can finish as the #2 seed if they can prove themselves against quality teams down the final stretch of the regular season.

 

Men’s Basketball

The Gustavus men’s basketball team has a MIAC-best 12-3 record, giving them a slight edge over St. Thomas, who stands at 12-4. The Gusties are 9-2 since coming back from winter break and are currently riding a four-game win streak.  That streak included big wins against St. Thomas, St. Olaf and Augsburg, who are currently second, third and fourth in the conference, respectively.

The Gusties have five more regular season conference matchups. If they can finish strong and lock up either the #1 or #2 seed for playoffs, they will be poised for a third straight run to the MIAC championship.

 

Women’s Hockey

The Gustie Women  currently stand on top of the MIAC with an overall record of 16-1-2. The Gusties were undefeated this season until they traveled to UW-Superior on Jan. 31, 2012, where they suffered a 5-1 loss. The women responded by sweeping Hamline last weekend to remain undefeated in conference play.

It is worth noting that the Pipers, in Saturday’s game, didn’t record a shot on goal until 11:16 into the second period, past the game’s midway point. While that’s a victory for the defense, no goalie can be a spectator for half of the game and then perform well when she finally sees some action. Senior Goalkeeper Danielle Justice has a sparkling 1.13 goals against average, a very good .923 save percentage, and hasn’t lost a game yet this year in 14 starts, but good goalies typically need to see some shots early to get into a rhythm.

The Gusties are primed to return to nationals this season, but if they  want to be successful they will have to find away to let Justice see more shots in their final six games of the regular season, as Frozen Four contenders have assaulted Gustavus Goaltenders in past years. They can’t expect their goalie(s) to stop thirty shots against the country’s best teams after a season filled with games in which 15 saves was typically sufficient.

 

Nordic Skiing

The Men’s and Women’s Nordic team showed improvement last week in the Battle Creek Super Tour in Lake Elmo, Minn.  The men placed in third behind Michigan Tech and St. Scholastica, while the women finished fourth behind Mich. Tech, St. Scholastica and St. Olaf.

Senior Anders Bowman was battling illness the first day of the race, but has consistently been the Gustavus top performer.  The women have been able to count on Junior Erica Hett and Sophomore Marian Lund as their top performers.  The Gusties will be back in action this weekend in the CCSA in Houghton, Mich.

 

Gymnastics

The gymnastics team is off to a rough start so far this year.  They lost two of their best performers from last year, including one who was a regular contender in the all-around competition.

Junior Sam Opsahl has been a bright spot in this tough season, as she was named the WIAC Specialist of the week for gymnastics after her performance at UW-Stout Jan. 28, 2012. Opsahl won the balance beam with a career best 9.550, and for attaining a season best 9.400 in her floor routine.

The Gustavus gymnastics team will be back in action Feb. 11, when they will travel to Minne-apolis to compete in the Best of Minnesota Invite, held on the campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.