Braeden Ripken-
Gustavus Swimming and Diving returns from the Stevens Point Invite with plenty of swims to be proud of on the Men’s and Women’s sides.
Fifth-year Peyton Richardson led the Men’s team through the water to another win by winning three events and earning second place in three other events this weekend at Stevens Point. The Men’s team stays undefeated this season as they go into the weekend vs. rival St. Johns. While doing this, Richardson won his fifth MIAC Swimmer of the Week award of the season.
On Friday, Richardson went a 1:58.03 in the 200 IM, beating all other competition by over a second, then leading the Gustavus Men’s 400 Medley A relay with a 50.64 in his 100 Fly split. Sophomore Logan Cyr led the relay off in a 55.18 Backstroke, with Senior Nyden Hill following in a blazing sub-minute 59.31 Breaststroke, and Junior Logan Braley anchoring the relay in a 47.92.
The next day, Richardson followed up his spectacular Friday performance with 51.22 in the 100 Fly, out-touching Wisconsin-La Crosse and Wisconsin-Stevens Point opponents to earn his third win. After the 100 Fly, Richardson gave another spectacular performance in the Men’s 400-Free A Relay, leading off in 48.28. Sophomore Braden Ripken went second with a 48.14, Braley with a 48.08, and anchored by Cyr with a 47.46. So far this season, the Gusties have gone 3:11.96 for their fastest pre-champion season time; they set the school and MIAC Record last year at 3:04.05.
There were many other standout swims in Wisconsin this weekend, like First-year Jacob Robischon, who had a swift time of 2:01.12 in the 200 Fly. Cyr got second in the 500 Free, finishing at 4:55.50. Hill earned third at 2:13.82 in the 200 Breast. In the 400 IM, Cyr got second with a 4:22.27, out-touching fellow Gustie and Sophomore Ben Kell by 11 hundredths of a second. The Men’s team won the meet with 1128.5 points, with Stevens Points scoring 925 and La Crosse scoring 791.5.
The Women had many standout swims of the weekend, starting with Senior Marit Isaacson, who won the 200 and 400 IM with times of 2:13.01 and 4:44.78, leaving her competition far behind.
Sophomore Stella Anderson Moye followed that up with a third-place finish in the 500 Free with a time of 5:26.95 and came in second in the 200 Free in 2:02.02. She later earned another third-place finish in the Mile at 19:22.65. First-year distance swimmer Teresa Gatti finished second in the mile with a 19:15.02. First-year Geneva Fackler was out-touched in the 100 Free by 4 hundredths of a second to earn second place. Following this, Sophomore Madison Witte swam a 2:20.67 in the 200 Fly, comfortably giving her third place. Finishing off the individual events, First-year sprinter Katelyn Siers electrically got second place in the 50 Free in 25.15
The Gustavus Women’s 400-Free Relay won with a time of 3:40.81. Fackler led off the relay strong with a 55.82. Isaacson followed it with a 54.70, and Siers with a 54.08. Anderson Moye anchored in a 56.21. The Women’s team earned second place in the meet, scoring 929 points, losing to Wisconsin-La Crosse.
The key to the strong weekend and the dynasty in the making must be the fun these Gusties have in and out of the water. The team has readopted an old chant of “We mess around” and followed it up with swimmers hitting unique celebrations and finding their way to have fun on the pool deck with teammates. Richardson had something to say about the atmosphere at the Point Invite: “I enjoy our team’s atmosphere at meets a lot. We always bring an energy that makes you happy to be there and happy to race. It seems it has almost become a tradition at this point for the final relay (400 free relay), where the opposite gender will cheer on by ‘rowing the boat’ at the end of the lane. It sounds silly, but it keeps the mood light and gets you ready to race fast.”
The strong finishes on both the Men’s and Women’s side of the Gustavus Swim Team are getting the Gusties ecstatic for the MIAC Championships.
Anderson Moye had this to say; “We’ve faced many good races and close competition in the regular season and consistently won against our biggest competition in the MIAC at both duals and midseason. We have a lot of talent in all the classes, and it will add a level of depth to our final conference team. We are in good standing to claim another championship title, as well as have potential for nationals. More than anything, I am hoping to get another chance to experience celebrating the whole team’s successful season and having fun at the end. It’s rare to find a team that works hard and plays hard, and Gustavus Swim and Dive have mastered it.”
The Women’s Team looks forward to an opportunity to win back-to-back MIAC Championships, while the Men’s Team looks to break their record of five straight by winning their sixth MIAC Championship this February.