The Gustavus men’s swimming and diving team, concentrating its efforts in the relays, registered a total of 19 top-eight relay finishes at last weekend’s Minnesota Challenge at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center in Minneapolis. The Gusties won three of five relays and finished second in four with either their first or second team.
Scott Hagemeyer (Jr., Willmar, Minn.) and Brian Amundson (Jr., Blaine, Minn.) teamed up on four of five relays, winning the 400 medley relay (3:36.61) and finishing second in the 200 medley relay (1:38.66) with Jonah Winter (So., Park Rapids, Minn.) and Connor Ziegler (So., Sauk Rapids, Minn.), winning the 400 freestyle relay (3:11.26) with Matt Stewart (Fr., Burnsville, Minn.) and Ben Hanson (So., Minnetonka, Minn.) and finishing second in the 200 freestyle relay (1:24.45) with Clement Auyeung (Fr., North Mankato, Minn.) and Tyler Wakefield (Fr., Hutchinson, Minn.). The time posted in the 200 freestyle relay bettered the “B” qualifying mark of 1:24.90.
Amundson also teamed with Stewart, Hanson and Greg Pokorski (So., Rochester, Minn.) for a win in the 800 freestyle relay (7:03.99). Hagemeyer picked up a second place finish (7:14.97) in that race with teammates Ziegler, Wakefield and Dave Pearson (Fr., Woodbury, Minn). Hagemeyer also picked up a seventh-place finish in the 100 backstroke with a time of 55.39 seconds.
The team of Jeff Pearson (Sr., Woodbury, Minn.), Billy Cuevas (Fr., Woodbury, Minn.), Stewart and Auyeung added a second place finish in the 400 medley relay (3:37.91) and a third-place finish in the 200 medley relay (1:39.67). Dave Pearson, Cuevas, Auyeung and Wakefield added a third-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay (3:20.63).
The Gusties also recorded a number of top-six individual finishes, led by Pokorski’s third place finish in the 400 individual medley. Pokroski recorded a time of 4:22.53, touching the wall ahead of teammates Dave Pearson (fifth, 4:24.20) and Cuevas (sixth, 4:25.82). Nick DeLeeuw (So., Hutchinson, Minn.) added a fifth-place finish in the 100 breaststroke (1:03.19) and a sixth-place finish in the 200 breaststroke (2:20.08). Junior Luke Weyandt (Ham Lake, Minn.) touched the wall just ahead of DeLeeuw in the 200 breaststroke finishing fifth in a time of 2:19.85.
Sophomore Ben Hanson fell 0.30 seconds short of the “B” qualifying mark of 4:39.99 in the 500 freestyle with a 4:40.29 clocking, finishing tenth.
The Gusties will take next weekend off in preparation for the following weekend’s Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships.