St. Peter, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus women’s swimming and diving team scored 1,694 points to swim away with a first place finish at the inaugural Grace Goblirsch Memorial Invitational held Saturday afternoon at the Vic Gustafson Pool. Carthage College finished second with 950 points, Morningside College took third with 173 points, and Saint Mary’s University rounded out the field in fourth with 170 points.
“Just as they have done all season, the women turned in another surgical performance,” said Head Coach Jon Carlson. “To win the first Grace Goblirsch Invite in this manner is truly an honor to Grace and her family. The atmosphere in the Vic was electric and this group took full advantage of it. Four pool records today and we are still in November – that’s scary to think about! The sky is the limit for this team and I’m proud of their work ethic and drive up to this point. However, we can’t become complacent and have to keep pushing ourselves each and every day.”
The four pool records coach Carlson mentioned came in the 200 breaststroke, 200-medley relay, and both diving events. Standout senior Jenny Strom (Rochester, Minn.) was fully responsible for two of those records falling. Strom touched the wall in 2:24.83 to win the 200 breaststroke and break Carleton swimmer Kate Alexander’s 2009 record of 2:25.12. In the 200-medley relay, Hayley Booher (Warren, Vt.), Strom, Kate Reilly (Fy., Hastings, Minn.), and Katie Olson (Sr., North Oaks, Minn.) teamed up to take gold with a time of 1:48.53 and break the 2013 pool record of 1:49.21 held by St. Thomas’s Talbot, Punyko, Kukielka, and Splinter. To go along with her pool record swims, Strom also won the 100 breaststroke in 1:07.32 and the 500 freestyle in 5:19.45.
Leading the way on the boards was senior Heather Funai (Lincolnwood, Ill.) who took down both the Vic’s records with her routines. Funai won the three-meter competition with a score of 427.95 and also finished runner-up on the one-meter board with a score of 398.95.
Jenny Strom was one of three Gustavus individuals who posted three individual event wins on the afternoon. Hayley Booher out-touched the field in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:00.05, 400 IM with a time of 4:43.58, and 200 IM with a time of 2:13.46. Kate Reilly was the other three-win contributor by taking the 50 free in 24.56, 100 free in 54.11, and 100 butterfly in 58.86.
Gustavus’s other individual event victories were posted by Leah Anderson (Jr., Apple Valley, Minn.) and Megan Boonstra (Fy., Oakdale, Minn.). Anderson came in first in the 200 free (1:58.86) and added a pair of runner-up finishes in the 200 backstroke (2:16.87) and 500 frees (5:21.31). Boonstra won the 1,650 free in 18:47.04 and finished second in the 400 IM in 5:21.31.
The Black and Gold dominated all three of the afternoon’s relay events. In the 200-free relay, Katie Olson, Nicole Lohman (So., North Mankato, Minn.), Dannielle Klunk (Sr., Appleton, Wis.), and Tarin Adning (Jr., Sartell, Minn.) placed first with a time of 1:38.86. Lohman, Klunk, Anderson, and Reilly rounded out the meet with a victory in the 400-free relay after touching the wall in 3:38.68.
The Gusties will have a short break from competition over the Thanksgiving before before capping the first half of their season at the Jean Freeman Invitational being held Dec. 5-6 at the Aquatic Center on the campus of the University of Minnesota.