ST. PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus College men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will travel to Grinnell, Iowa this weekend to compete at the Grinnell Invitational taking place at the Grinnell Natatorium in the Charles Benson Bear ’39 Recreation and Athletic Center. The meet will also feature teams from Coe, Colorado College, College of Saint Mary, Loras, Luther, Nebraska Wesleyan, St. Catherine, Simpson, University of Nebraska-Kearney and University of Nebraska-Omaha.
The Gustie men most recently suffered a 182-106 loss to Carleton College on Jan. 8 at Vic Gustufson Pool. Gustavus’s front-runner Tanner Sonnek (Fy., North Mankato, Minn.) took home first place in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:00.73. The North Mankato native also notched a first place finish in the 200 breaststroke with a 2:13.01 and finished second in the 200 individual medley turning in a time of 2:03.63. Sophomore Anders Wallock (Wheaton, Ill.) also had a strong showing, clocking in a 10:40.55 in the 1000 freestyle, which was good enough for second.
Rounding out the competition on the men’s side was senior Jacob Stern (Rosemount, Minn.) who tallied two second place finishes in the 200 and 500 freestyle, with times of 1:49.84 and 5:04.87, respectively.
On the same night, the women’s team swam to a 186-108 victory over the Knights. The Gusties tallied 12 total first place finishes, including 10 individual and two relays. Senior Leah Anderson (Apple Valley, Minn.) led the charge with three of those 10 individual wins, as she took home gold in the 100 free (55.31), 200 free (2:00.06), and 500 free (5:24.26). Fellow senior Morgan Field (Albert Lea, Minn.) was right behind her, tallying two individual wins in the 100 breaststroke (1:09.33) and 200 breaststroke (2:32.9). First-year Kate Reilly (Hastings, Minn.) also nabbed two golds, with her’s coming in the 50 free (24.79) and 100 butterfly (59:09).
Additional victories came from Haley Pesik (Fy., Eagan, Minn.), Hayley Booher (Jr., Warren, Vt.), and Michelle Simms (Fy., Inver Grove Heights, Minn.). Pesik took gold in the 1,000 free with a time of 11:10.4, Booher won the 200 IM in 2:13.37, and Simms picked up a win in the 200 butterfly with a 2:19.19.
Prelims for this weekend’s meet will begin at 9 a.m. on both days, with finals set for 5:30 p.m. on Friday and 5 p.m. on Saturday.