Swimmers Zac Solis and Kate Reilly have been named the January Student Athletes Of The Month.
St. Peter, Minn. – Senior swimmer Zac Solis (Centennial, Colo.) and first-year swimmer Kate Reilly (Hastings, Minn.) have been selected as the Gustavus Adolphus College January Male and Female Student-Athletes-of-the-Month, as selected by the Gustavus Sports Information Department.
ZAC SOLIS
Swimming & Diving
Hometown: Centennial, Colorado
High School: Smoky Hill
Parents: Joe and Jean Solis of Centennial, Colorado
Zac Solis proved to be the most consistent swimmer and was a staple on the podium during the Gustavus men’s swimming and diving team’s three January events. In the team’s first meet of 2015, Solis dominated the distance races with a pair of victories in the 500 freestyle in 4:54.58 and 1,000 freestyle in 10:10.06 against Carleton on Jan. 9. He then led the team to a second place finish at the Grinnell Invite on Jan. 16-17, scoring a team-high 82 points with two individual event wins, one relay victory and three other top-seven finishes. His gold medals at Grinnell came in the 500 free (4:47.63), 200 free (1:46.01), and 400-free relay (3:13.73). For his efforts, Zolis was named the MIAC Men’s Swimming and Diving Athlete-of-the-Week – an honor he has received twice this season. To cap the month, the Centennial, Colorado product was the top Gustie swimmer in his last meet at the Vic Gustafson Pool against St. Thomas on Jan. 24. Solis provided gold medal swims in the 500 free with a time of 4:50.35 and 1,000 free with a time of 10:02.95., and added a second place finish in the 100 free with a time of 49.88.
KATE REILLY
Swimming & Diving
Hometown: Hastings, Minnesota
High School: Minnesota Virtual Academy
Parents: Joe and Jennifer Reilly of Hastings, Minnesota
Despite her rookie status, Kate Reilly continued to impress during one of the most grueling months of the season. In Gustavus’s 210-88 win over Carleton, Reilly won the 50 free in 24.77 and the 100 butterfly in 1:00.64, and contributed to the relay win of the 200-medley in 1:50.33. At the two-day Grinnell Invitational, the frosh won the 50 free (24.27) and 100 free (53.26), finished runner-up in the 200 IM (2:11.74) and the 100 butterfly (59.01), and also helped the 200-medley relay (1:51.27) and 400-free relay (3:35.510) come away with golds. The Hastings, Minnesota native put the finishing touches on January with a record-breaking effort against St. Thomas. She out-touched the field in both the 50 free with a time of 24.31 and the 100 butterfly with a time of 56.60, and helped the 200-medley relay and 400-free relay to a pair of wins with times of 1:47.65 and 3:36.30, respectively. Her effort if the 100 butterfly broke the school record previously held by teammate Danielle Klunk (56.91, 2014), while the 200-medley relay snapped the pool record previously held by St. Thomas in 2013.