The Gustavus men’s swimming and diving team is currently in second place following the first day of competition at the 2011 MIAC Swimming and Diving Championships being held in the Aquatics Center on the campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. The Gusties totaled 167 points in day one and trail St. Olaf, who leads with 191 points. St. Thomas rounds out the top-three in third with 155, while Saint John’s is just one point behind the Tommies in fourth with 154.
The 200-free relay team made up of Sam Defranco, Zach Nachtsheim, Drew Hedlund, and Sam Olson-Anstett kicked off the swimming events by taking first with a time of 1:23.33. The mark was fast enough to hit the NCAA B cut in the race.
Both relay events turned in big points for Gustavus, as the 400 medley relay team consisting of Paul Kirihara, Billy Schultze, Matt Van Fossen, and Whitaker Davis placed runner-up with an NCAA B cut time of 3:24.15.
Whitaker Davis highlighted the night in the individual races for the Gusties, defending his title in the 500 free to become MIAC Champion in the event for the second straight year. Davis swam a 4:28.94 in the race, automatically qualifying for the NCAA Championships.
Other top individual finishers of the night included Billy Schultze, Sam DeFranco, and John Rice. Schultze placed fifth in the 200 IM with a time of 1:55.90, DeFranco took fifth in the 50 free with a time of 21.45, and Rice finished sixth in the 500 free with a time of 4:41.47.
The Gustavus men’s swimming and diving team will hit the water again tomorrow with preliminaries beginning at 10:30 am. and finals set to start at 6:30 p.m. later that evening.