Staff Writer- Nathan Swanson

The Gustavus Men’s and Women’s Swim & Dive teams competed this last weekend in the Gustie Challenge meet. The meet held on the Gustavus campus, was a two-day event from Friday to Saturday. 

“The Gustavus challenge is a meet primarily focused on giving our non-conference swimmers and bubble swimmers a chance to swim for lifetime bests and to get performance times in,” Junior Stella Anderson Moye said.

 While it is the last meet before the MIAC Championships, it is still an important event for the swimmers and a good marker at the end of the season. 

“From here on out, the focus will definitely be on recovery and getting in the competition headspace that’s necessary to compete at a high performance level for sure, and looking forward to trying to get some swimmers to Nationals both in individuals and relays,” Moye added.  

In both the 500 and 1650 freestyle events, First-year Britton Patee got first place for the Gustavus men’s team with times of 4:49.56 and 16:56.67, respectively. In the 200 and 50 freestyle events, Junior Aiden Shermak placed first with times of 1:43.27 and 21.64, respectively. Junior Braden Ripken touched the wall first to win the 100 freestyle with a time of 48.53. In the 100 butterfly, Junior Ben Kell led all swimmers, coming in first with a time of 53.25. He also took first in the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:55.49. Ripken won the 100 breaststroke, finishing at 1:11.07. Sophomore Mason Cote won the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:14.41. Sophomore Josh Wallin came in first in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:01.20. Leading all swimmers, Sophomore Jack Reilly swam the 200 backstroke and finished with a time of 1:58.09. Finishing the 200 IM, Junior Logan Cyr won with a time of 1:59.18. In the 400 IM, Patee won, finishing with a time of 4:11.13. Wrapping up the meet, the Gusties men’s Swim & Dive took first place in the 200 freestyle relay, the 400 medley relay, the 200 medley relay, the 800 freestyle relay, and the 400 freestyle relay. 

First-year Kaia Churness led the Gustavus women in the 1650 and 500 freestyle events. She placed first in the 1650 freestyle with a time of 18:56.78, and she placed second in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:21.07. In the 200 freestyle, First-year Annika Beck placed first with a time of 2:00.59. First-year Leah Felton won the 100 freestyle, finishing with a time of 55.03. Sophomore Katelyn Siers came in as runner-up in the 50 freestyle with a time of 24.86. In the 200 butterfly, Junior Madison Witte finished in first, touching the wall at 2:15.55. Just beating the minute mark, Sophomore Samantha Villa swam the 100 butterfly and finished first with a time of 59.87. Swimming the 200 breaststroke, First-year Gabby Lee took first place with a time of 2:38.66. Sophomore Linnea Reinsmoen came in first place in the 100 breaststroke when she touched the wall at 1:11.07. In both the 200 and 100 backstroke races, Siers came in first place with times of 2:13.45 and 1:01.20, respectively. In the 400 IM, Junior Stella Anderson Moye finished with a time of 4:54.63, winning the event. In the 200 IM, Beck came in 7th place and finished with a time of 2:17.10. For the women’s Swim & Dive team, they won the 200 medley relay, the 800 freestyle relay, and the 400 medley relay. They came in second place in the 200 freestyle relay, as well as the 400 medley relay. 

On Wednesday, Feb. 11th, Gustavus will head up to the University of Minnesota to compete in the MIAC Championships. “I love the MIAC meet because I feel like the atmosphere there is unmatched. It’s the pinnacle of sporting events and embodies the Gustavus spirit… I definitely love the environment, the pool just gets so loud, it’s electric, but on top of that, at the core of it, I really am someone who loves to race and get to embrace the spirit of competition,” Moye said.

 For each swimmer, there is something that they can focus on and think through as they gear up for an exciting moment of the season. “I feel like for me it’s just keeping a good mindset and keeping everything in perspective, reminding myself why I love to race and why I love swimming,” Moye commented.