The Gustavus women’s swimming team won its first home dual meet of the season by defeating St. Olaf 152-148, while the Gustavus men’s swimming team dropped its second dual meet of the season losing 142.5-157.5 to the Oles. The meet was held at the Lund Natatorium on the Gustavus Adolphus College campus.
Gustavus Men’s Swimming Highlights
Matt Stewart (Jr., Burnsville, Minn.) was the only double winner for the Gustavus men’s team as he won the 100-yard freestyle (47.42) and the 200-yard freestyle (1:44.35). Stewart narrowly missed setting a new pool record in the 200-yard freestyle by 0.12 seconds.
The Davis brothers turned in strong performances as both finished first and second in the 500-yard and 1000-yard freestyle. Skylar Davis (So., Palatine, Ill.) finished second in the 500-yard freestyle and won the 1000-yard freestyle in 9:46.34 to set a new pool record. He broke the old pool record of 9:49.10 that he set last season. Whitaker Davis (Fy., Palatine, Ill.) won the 500-yard freestyle (4:43.55) and finished second in the 1000-yard freestyle.
Other first-place finishers included Mark Larson (Fy., St. Paul, Minn.) in 1-meter diving (191.25 points) and Connor Ziegler (Sr., Sauk Rapids, Minn.) in the 200-yard butterfly (1:58.99).
One of the Gustavus 400-yard freestyle relay teams tied for a first-place finish with St. Olaf in 3:13.81. Members of the relay included Whitaker Davis, Ziegler, Stewart, and Billy Cuevas (Jr., Woodbury, Minn.).
The Golden Gustie men’s team has only beat the Oles three times in dual meets during Coach Carlson’s tenure starting in 1990-91. Gustavus defeated the Oles in the 2001-02, 2002-03, and 2005-06 seasons.
Gustavus Women’s Swimming Highlights
Carrie Gundersen (So., Minnetonka, Minn.) turned in another fine performance as she won three events Friday evening. She took home first-place in the 100-yard freestyle (56.26), the 500-yard freestyle (5:24.02), and the 1000-yard freestyle (10:55.63).
Emma Espel (Jr., Fargo, ND) was another multiple event winner for Coach Carlson as she won the 50-yard freestyle (25.84) and the 100-yard butterfly (1:02.77).
Other first-place finishers included Anika Erickson (Fy., Milaca, Minn.) in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:30.20) and Sarah Koepp (So., Burnsville, Minn.) in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:08.99). Koepp also finished just behind Erickson in the 200-yard breastroke in 2:33.27.
The Gustavus women’s 400-yard freestyle relay team of Gundersen, Britney Manthey (Jr., Rochester, Minn.), Christi O’Connor (So., Great Falls, Mon.), and Sara Pfau (Sr., Bismarck, N.D.) picked up valuable points for the team finishing first in 3:45.09 in the deciding event of the meet to seal the victory for the Gusties.
Friday’s victory marked the third time Gustavus has defeated St. Olaf in a women’s dual meet. The previous victories came in the 2001-02 and 2003-04 seasons when the Gusties went on to win the MIAC Championships later in the season.