The Gustavus men’s swimming and diving team turned in several outstanding performances on the final day of the MIAC Championships, however the Gusties were not able to catch St. Olaf and had to settle for second place. The Oles took the top spot with 851 points followed by the Gusties with 738 points.
Gustavus started the final session of the meet off in great fashion taking three of the top four spots in the 1650 freestyle. Skylar Davis finished first for the third consecutive year and his time of 15:49.04 set a new meet record. Whitaker Davis finished third (15:53.98) and John Rice placed fourth (16:15.55).
Next came the 200 backstroke where Paul Kirihara finished fifth (1:55.28) and Kevin Horn placed seventh (1:56.09).
In the 100 freestyle, the Gusties placed three in the top six including Tyler Wakefield, who placed second (46.80), Dave Pearson, who finished fourth (47.33), and Clem Auyeung, who placed sixth (47.88).
Billy Schultze was the lone Gustie in the top eight of the 200 breaststroke and he finished fourth with a time of 2:09.23.
Three Gustavus swimmers finished in the top five of the 200 butterfly including Matt Stewart finishing first in a conference and meet record time of 1:49.28, Josh Seaburg finished second in a time of 1:54.74, and Ross Elenkewich,placed fifth with a time of 1:56.19.
The Gusties closed out the meet in grand style as the 400 free relay team finished first
with a time of 3:04.70. The relay consisted of Matt Stewart, Clem Auyeung, Dave Pearson, and Tyler Wakefield.
Gustavus will now wait to hear which swimmers will qualify for the NCAA Championships which will take place at the University of Minnesota Aquatics Center on March 18-21.
FINAL TEAM SCORES
St. Olaf College 851
Gustavus Adolphus College 738
University of St. Thomas 487
Carleton College 441
Saint John’s University 431
Macalester College 204
Saint Mary’s University 188
Hamline University 134
Men’s Results From Saturday (Top 3 All-MIAC)
3-meter Diving – 1, Ian Straehly, St. Olaf, 434.55; 2, John Knapp, Carleton, 432.5, Ryan Trostrud, St. Olaf, 392.7
1650 Freestyle – 1. Skylar Davis, Gustavus, 15:49.04; 2. Nate Bentley, St. Olaf, 15:52.01; 3. Whitaker Davis, Gustavus, 15:53.98
200 Backstroke – 1. Peter Mullee, St. Thomas, 1:49.27; Nate Young, Macalester, 1:51.18; 3. Adam Meyer, St. Olaf, 1:53.64
100 Freestyle – 1. Jake Koch, St. Olaf, 44.89; 2. Tyler Wakefield, Gustavus, 46.8; 3. Erik Huls, St. Thomas, 46.89
200 Breastroke – 1. Nelson Westby, St. Olaf, 2:01.44; 2. Ted Marschall, Carleton, 2:02.60; 3, Chris Bateman, St. Olaf, 2:06.31
200 Butterfly – 1. Matt Stewart, Gustavus, 1:49.28; 2. Josh Seaburg, Gustavus, 1:54.74; 3. Erik Witzel, St. Olaf, 1:55.20
400 Free Relay – 1. Gustavus (Matt Stewart, Clem Auyeung, Dave Pearson, Tyler Wakefield) 3:04.7; 2. St. Olaf, 3:05.66; 3. Thomas, 3:08.41