The Gustavus men’s swimming and diving team turned in a third place finish with 683.5 points at the two-day UW-Stevens Point Invitational in Stevens Point, Wis. The Gusties finished 123.5 points behind first-place University of North Dakota. Matt Stewart, Skylar Davis and Ben Hanson turned in outstanding performances as all three swimmers turned in three top five finishes each at the meet that featured three Division II schools, including Minnesota State University-Mankato, Minnesota State University-Moorhead, and UND.
Stewart (Jr., Burnsville, Minn.) was the one of two male swimmers to win an event as he touched the wall first in the 200 butterfly in 1:57.96 on Saturday. He also finished in second place in the 200 freestyle (1:44.55) and the 500 freestyle (4:43.85). Skylar Davis (So., Palatine, Ill.) took home first place in the 1650 freestyle with a time of 16:32.00. He also finished third in the 400 IM in 4:21.72 and fourth in the 500 freestyle in 4:46.81. Hanson (Sr., Minnetonka, Minn.) turned in third place finishes in the 200 butterfly (2:01.77) and the 500 freestyle (4:46.10) as well as a fourth place finish in the 200 freestyle (1:46.42). Paul Kirihara (Fy., Bloomington, Minn.) was the other Golden Gustie who earned multiple top five finishes as he captured fourth place in the 200 backstroke (2:02.42) and fifth place in the 100 backstroke (56.54).
Connor Ziegler (Sr., Sauk Rapids, Minn.), who turned in a fifth place finish in the 200 butterfly (2:04.00), and Whitaker Davis (Fy., Palatine, Ill.), who finished third in the 1650 freestyle (16:53.49), were the only other individuals to finish in the top five. Two relay teams finished in the top five as well. The 400 freestyle relay finished third (3:15.13), while the 200 freestyle relay finished fourth (1:29.47).
Gustavus will host a dual meet against Macalester on Friday, January 25 at 5 p.m.