While it was storming outside in St. Peter, the Gustavus men’s swimming and diving team was lighting up the scoreboard in the Lund Natatorium inside. The Gusties tallied 1,549 points to defeat Saint John’s (1,080) on Saturday afternoon.
The Gusties won a total of seven individual races on the afternoon. Billy Schultze and Kurt Youngdahl led the way with a pair of victories and a runner-up finish each. Schultze won both the 200 freestyle and 200 breaststroke with a time of 1:48.45 in the free and 2:16.43 in the breaststroke. His second place mark came in the 200 IM (2:16.43). Youngdahl won the 50 freestyle with a time of 22.49 and the 200 IM with a time of 2:02.45. Kurt added a runner-up finish in the 100 fly (55.30).
Ross Larson, Ben Stewart, and Matt Van Fossen registered Gustavus other wins of the meet. Ross Larson took the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:03.85, while adding a second place finish in the 1000 freestyle with a time of 10:35.12. Ben Stewart won the 500 freestyle after touching the wall in 5:08.40. He also added a third place mark in the 200 butterfly. Matt Van Fossen rounded out the group by swimming to a win in the 100 butterfly with a time of 53.92.
Second place finishers included Kyle Herold, Zach Nachtsheim, Peter Crady, Adam Rosell, and Gunnar Teigen; Herold in the 100 backstroke (22.71), Nachtsheim in the 50 free (22.71), Crady in the 100 breaststroke (1:04.37), and Rosell in the 400 IM (4:36.01). Teigen finished second in the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:07.33 and also placed third in the 400 IM.
Zach Solis and Elliot Hoekstra each notched two thirds to round out the top individual swimmers for Gustavus. Solis’ two third place marks came in the 100 and 200 free, while Hoekstra’s were in the 100 and 200 breaststroke.
The Gusties placed two relay teams within the top-three in all three relay races. Van Fossen, Solis, Hoekstra, and Nachtsheim teamed up to finish runner-up in the 200-medley relay (1:40.68). Schultze, Solis, Olson-Anstett, and Youndahl recorded a time of 1:29.49 to finish second in the 200-free relay, while the 400-free relay team of Kent Gurung, Schultze, Stewart, and Youngdahl went 3:17.11 to finish second.
Michael Patterson and Sam Hanson finished second and third in both the one and three-meter diving competitions. Patterson scored a 193.65 to take second on the three-meter and a 173.00 to take third on the one-meter. Hanson recorded of second place mark on the one-meter with a score of 239.75 and a third place finish on the one-meter after earning a 181.15.
The Gustavus swimming and diving teams will be back in the pool on Dec. 2-3, when the Gusties will take part in the two-day Falcon Invite held on the campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.