Minneapolis – “We swam amazing and I’m so impressed with the effort of our team over the weekend,” said Head Coach Jon Carlson following Saturday’s competition of the two-day Jean Freeman Invitational held over the weekend at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center. “Up and down the lineup, I couldn’t be happier with how we performed. The women showed their depth and set a high tone for the rest of the season, and the men took a big step forward with many performances to build on and take confidence from.”
Despite it being a time of the season where record-breaking swims are less likely to be seen, the Gustavus women’s team managed to break three school records on the final day of the Jean Freeman Invite.
The first came from senior Alissa Tinklenberg (Willimar, Minn.) who continued to add to the legacy of her already stellar career. In the preliminaries of the 100 backstroke, Tinklenberg touched the wall in 55.55 to break her own school record of 55.95 set just last season. The Willmar product went on to out-touch all opponents in the finals of the event, taking gold with a time of 55.95. Tinklenberg finished nearly three seconds ahead of the second place finisher, Jessica Plant of the University of Minnesota.
Junior Danielle Klunk (Appleton, Wis.) also etched her named in the Gustavus record books on Saturday. Klunk posted a third place finish in the 100 freestyle with a time of 53.71, but it was in the 100 butterfly that she broke the school record. She came in fifth place in the race with a time of 57.09, which topped Gustavus’s previous school record of 57.73 held by Stephanie Korba and set in 2010.
The 200-medley relay featuring Alissa Tinklenberg, Jennifer Strom (Jr., Rochester, Minn.), Danielle Klunk, and Katie Olson (Jr., North Oaks, Minn.) turned in the final record-breaking swim of the day. The group finished second in the event with a time of 1:44.93, taking down last year’s 200-medley relay program record of 1:45.65 set by Tinklenberg, Strom, Kayla Hutsell (Jr., Apple Valley, Minn.), and Olson.
Other individual standouts on the women’s side included Megan Tuttle (Jr., Deephaven, Minn.), Morgan Field (So., Albert Lea, Minn.), and Strom. Tuttle registered the Black and Gold’s other first place finish of the day by taking the 400 individual medley with a time of 5:04.81. Field and Strom both tallied second place finishes with Morgan going 5:15.34 to end up behind Tuttle in the 400 IM, and Strom swimming a 2:22.36 to place second in the 100 breaststroke.
Top Gusties on the men’s team included Jacob Stern (So., Rosemount, Minn.), Zac Solis (Jr., Centennial, Colo.), and Bennet Woltjer (So., Kandiyohi, Minn.). Stern came in sixth in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:12.11, Solis placed 10th in the 1,650 free with a time of 17:16.14, and Woltjer posted the best finish by a Gustavus diver with a sixth place mark in the three-meter with a score of 163.35
The Gustavus swimming and diving teams will be off until its winter training trip to Puerto Rico on Dec. 28-Jan. 5. The Gusties will return to the waters of Minnesota on Jan. 10 with a dual meet against Carleton at 5:00 p.m. in the Vic Gustafson Pool.