ST. PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams are set to compete in their last meet of the regular season Friday and Saturday at the Minnesota Challenge, hosted by the University of Minnesota at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center. The meet begins at 6 p.m. Friday and resumes at 12 p.m. Saturday. Live scoring is provided through the link below:
The Gusties were last in action last Friday in a dual meet at the University of St. Thomas. The women won by a score of 155-138, while the men lost 210-87.
The Gustie women were especially strong in the 200 and 500 freestyle races, earning top-three finishes in each. In the 200, Leah Anderson (Sr., Apple Valley, Minn.) led the way with a 1:59.29. Nicole Lohman (Jr., North Mankato, Minn.) was second with a 2:00.64, while Maggie Webster (Fy., Apple Valley, Minn.) came in third with a 2:03.61. In the 500, first-year Linnea Rizzo (Woodbury, Minn.) took gold with a time of 5:19.51. Anderson followed closely with a 5:20.59, and Sydney Hallmark (Fy., Cedarburg, Wis.) rounded out the top-three with a 5:30.06.
Rizzo also picked up a win in the 1,000 free with a time of 10:53.22, a time that broke a St. Thomas pool record, and Lohman earned a victory in the 100 free with a 54.17.
Kate Reilly (So., Hastings, Minn.) continued her momentum from the previous weekend at Grinnell, earning a win in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:07.45. Morgan Field (Sr., Albert Lea, Minn.) and Hayley Booher (Jr., Warren, Vt.) also found gold, winning the 200 breaststroke and 200 IM with times of 2:30.87 and 2:12.01, respectively. Booher’s time in the 200 IM was also a St. Thomas pool record.
The Gusties’ final win came in the 200 medley relay, where Michelle Simms (Fy., Inver Grove Heights, Minn.), Tarin Anding (Sr., Sartell, Minn.), Field, and Reilly were victorious with a time of 1:48.89.
Tanner Sonnek (North Mankato, Minn.) continued to swim beyond his years on the men’s side, as the first-year led the Gusties with two of their three event wins. Sonnek won both the 100 and 200 breaststroke, finishing the 100 in 59.21 and the 200 in 2:09.95. The North Mankato native also took second place in the 200 IM with a time of 2:03.14.
Jeff Nelson (Sr., Maple Grove, Minn.) picked up Gustavus’s other victory, earning gold in the 100 free with a time of 48.6.
Rounding out the Gusties’ top performances of the day were Seth Berry (So., Bloomington, Minn.), who earned a second place finish in the 50 free with a time of 22.34, and Carson Scholberg (Fy., Apple Valley, Minn.) who took home silver in both the one- and three-meter dives. Scholberg earned a score of 230.9 in the one-meter and 197.75 in the three-meter.