The Gustavus men’s swimming and diving team closed out its regular season schedule by defeating UW-Stevens Point 169.5 to 148.5 in the Lund Natatorium in St. Peter, Minn. The Gusties swam extremely well winning nine of the 17 events and setting six new pool records. Matt Stewart led the way as he won the 200 fly, the 500 free, and the 200 individual medley setting three pool records in the process. The Gusties finished the regular season with a dual meet record of 4-1 overall.
Stewart, a sophomore from Burnsville, Minn. (Apple Valley HS), capped off a strong regular season by setting pool records in the 200 fly (1:54.07 – the old record was 1:54.96), the 500 free (4:39.16 – the old record was 4:44.19), and the 200 individual medley (1:56.17 – the old record was 1:58.95).
Senior Scott Hagemeyer (Willmar) also had a big day as he won the 100 backstroke and the 100 free, and swam the anchor leg on the winning 200 free relay team. Hagemeyer’s time of 52.51, broke a six-year old pool record mark of 52.78 set by Jake Hvistendahl of St. Olaf in 2001. The 200 free relay team of Brian Amundson (Sr., Coon Rapids, Minn./Blaine), Ben Hanson (Jr., Minnetonka, Minn.), Jonah Winter (Jr., Park Rapids, Minn.), and Hagemeyer also set a new pool record with a time of 1:24.12. The old mark was 1:26.83 set by the Gustavus team of Nick Brase, Nate Brase, Evan Christianson, and Will Sutor in 2003. The Gusties currently have the fifth fastest 200 free relay time in Division III.
Brian Amundson also set a new pool record in the 50 free with a time of 20.80, which he swam as the opening leg of the 200 free relay. He also picked up a second place finish in the 100 free (47.97).
Other’s posting first place finishes for Gustavus included Skylar Davis (Fy., Palatine, Ill.) in the 1,000 free (9:54.25), Amundson in the 50 free (21.30), and Josh Waylander (Sr., Montevideo, Minn.) in the 200 backstroke (2:00.45).
Other notable finishes for the Gusties included Sklyar Davis placing second in the 500 free (4:45.79), Greg Pokorski (Jr., Rochester, Minn./Century) placing second in the 400 individual medley (4:28.23), Connor Ziegler (Jr., Sauk Rapids, Minn.) placing second in the 100 fly (52.65), Dan Mikkelson (Jr., Plymouth, Minn./Armstrong) placing second in the 200 individual medley (2:02.75), Ben Hanson placing second in the 200 free and the 1,000 free, and Steve Howard (Jr., White Bear Lake, Minn.) placing second in the 3-meter diving (199.1), and third in the one-meter diving (178.20).
Coach Jon Carlson and his squad will now spend the next two weeks training and tapering for the MIAC Championships which will be held at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center, February 15-17. The Gusties will be attempting to claim their sixth consecutive MIAC team title.