St. Peter, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus women’s swimming and diving team suffered a 131.5-111.5 loss to the University of St. Thomas on Saturday afternoon on Senior Day at the Lund Center Natatorium. The Gusties recorded seven event wins in their final dual meet of the season.
“Although the scores didn’t come out in our favor, I’m proud of the way both the men and women competed today,” said head coach Jon Carlson. “It was our ‘Race for Grace’ meet and I thought our swimmers gave it their all and left it in the pool. Training has been tough as we head into the backstretch of our season, so today was good chance for our swimmers to see some conference competition inside our pool for the final time this year.”
Junior Alissa Tinklenberg (Willmar, Minn.), and sophomores Katie Olson (North Oaks, Minn.) and Jennifer Strom (Rochester, Minn.) led the Gusties with six first place swims between them.
Tinklenberg and Olson dominated the freestyle races, as the Willmar product won the 200 with a time of 1:58.65 and the 500 with a time of 5:19.59. The North Oaks native placed first in the 50 with a time of 25.11 and the 100 with a time of 54.57. Strom rounded out the group by taking top marks in both the 200 individual medley in 2:15.66 and 100 breaststroke in 1:07.28.
Leah Anderson (Fy., Apple Valley, Minn.) provided a pair of finishes on the podium including a second place performance in the 200 free (1:59.61) and a third place swim in the 100 free (56.00).
Libby Larson (So., Detroit Lakes, Minn.) placed runner-up in the 1000 free (11:17.75), while Annie Fittipaldi (Fy., Edina, Minn.) finished behind her in third (11:30.01).
Abby Lyle (Jr., Buffalo, Wyo.) and Ashley Lager (Fy., St. Peter, Minn.) rounded out Gustavus’ top swimmers with third place marks in the 200 IM (2:17.45) and 100 backstroke (1:02.11), respectively.
Gustavus’ top diving performance of the afternoon came from Shelbie Walsh (Fy., Litchfield, Minn.) who scored a 194.45 in the one-meter competition.
The Gusties also posted a first place finish in the 200-free relay. Tarin Anding (Fy., Sartell, Minn.), Sarah Hund (Sr., Willmar, Minn.), Olson, and Tinklenberg teamed up to win the race with a time of 1:39.08.
The Gustavus swimming and diving teams will be back in the pool for their final swim before the 2013 MIAC Championships next weekend. The Gusties will travel to the St. Paul to take part in the two-day MIAC Invitational hosted by St. Thomas on Feb. 1-2. The MIAC Championships begin two weeks following on Feb. 14-16.