St. Peter, Minn. – In front of a packed house in the Vic Gustafson Pool on Friday night, the Gustavus Adolphus men’s swimming and diving team suffered a 211-83 loss at the hands of St. Olaf College.
“It was a electric atmosphere in the Vic tonight and I’m proud of the way both our men’s and women’s teams went out and competed,” said Head Coach Jon Carlson following the meet. “The men’s team recorded a number of personal bests and I’m happy with the way we swam coming off several weeks of all-out training. There’s certainly room for improvement but I’m proud of the men for battling from start to finish.”
Posting Gustavus’s only two event wins on the night was diver Bennet Woltjer (So., Kandiyohi, Minn.) who swept the diving competition. Woltjer won the one-meter with a score of 251.65 and also took three-meter with a time of 278.65.
Scoring the Gusties big points with three finishes on the podium was Zach Solis (Jr. Centennial, Colo.). Solis finished runner-up in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:01.54 and 1,000-freestyle with a time of 10:11.43. The junior also added a third place finish in the 200 backstroke in 2:02.20.
Providing Gustavus a pair of runner-up finishes in the backstroke races was Dante Colucci (Summit, N.J.). Colucci touched the wall in 55.21 in the 100 back and 2:01.50 in the 200 back. Jeff Nelson (So., Maple Grove, Minn.) also added two performances that made the podium in a runner-up swim in the 200 free (1:49.53) and a third place mark in the 100 free (49.26). Jacob Stern (So., Rosemount, Minn.) rounded out Gustavus’s top individual performers with a third place effort in the 100 breaststroke (1:01.59).
The Gustavus swimming and diving team will be back in the pool next weekend when it hosts its third straight home meet. The team will host the Gustie Mini-Invitational beginning at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 23 at the Vic Gustafson Pool.