The Gustavus women’s swimming and diving team picked up wins in four of thirteen events and runner-up finishes in a total of six races, but could not overcome St. Olaf, falling 136-80 in a dual Friday night in St. Peter. The Gusties drop to 0-2 in duals on the season and will be back in action Saturday afternoon, splitting the squad between a dual with Saint Mary’s in Winona and a quadrangular with Hamline, Carleton and host St. Kate’s. Both meets start at 1 p.m.
Gustavus started the meet off well, with the 400 medley relay team of senior Katherine Haynes (Duluth, Minn.), juniors Yoshi Ludwig (St. Peter, Minn.) and Laura Watkins (Fargo, N.D.) and sophomore Sara Pfau (Bismarck, N.D.) taking the win in a time of 4:07.52. Watkins and Ludwig also recorded individual wins on the day with Watkins claiming the 50 freestyle sprint title with a time of 25.52 seconds and Ludwig taking the 200 individual medley in a 2:18.24 clocking. Ludwig edged out Sara Pfau by less than a second. She also picked up a runner-up finish of her own, placing second behind St. Olaf’s Lainie Cassel in the 200 butterfly. Haynes finished second in the 200 backstroke.
Senior Dani Wright (Wayzata, Minn.) claimed the other Gustie first-place finish, winning the 1-meter diving competition over teammates Kara Yetter (Sr., Shakopee, Minn.) and Lauren Wallerius (Jr., Albertville, Minn.). Yetter and Wallerius swapped positions in the 3-meter diving competition finishing third and second, respectively, behind Ole sophomore Mille Eggebroten.