ST. PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s swimming & diving team is set to participate in the 2016 MIAC Championships on Thursday at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center, which runs through Saturday. The Gusties took fifth places last season with a total of 487 points, while St. Thomas is the defending champion, posting 808 points last year.
First-year standout Tanner Sonnek (North Mankato, Minn.) has been one of Gustavus’s fastest swimmers throughout the season and is expected to make a splash at his first conference meet. Sonnek is seeded second in both the 100 and 200 breaststrokes. He is also seeded fourth in the 200 individual medley.
Multiple relay teams look to make an impact with high rankings coming into the MIAC Championships. The 400 medley relay team is seeded fourth and the 200 medley relay team is ranked fifth. The 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams come in at No. 5 and the 800 freestyle relay team is ranked sixth.
Individual sixth place seeds go to Anders Wallock (So., Wheaton, Ill.) in the 1650 freestyle and Ben Miller (Sr., Des Moines, Iowa) in the 200 backstroke. Andrew Olson (Sr., Elk River, Minn.) is seeded seventh in the 400 individual medley, Jacob Stern (Sr., Rosemount, Minn.) is eighth in the 200 freestyle, and Miller is ranked ninth in the 100 backstroke. Stern is also seeded 10th in the 500 freestyle.
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From the MIAC
The 2016 MIAC Swimming and Diving Championships will be held Thursday, Feb. 18, through Saturday, Feb. 20, with two sessions each day. The morning sessions will begin at 10:30 a.m. (doors at 9 p.m.) and will feature preliminary races, with the evening championship sessions starting at 6:30 p.m. (doors at 5 p.m.). Saturday’s championship doors will open at 2:30 p.m. for preliminary heats of the 1,650-yard freestyle and diving.
Tickets are available at either a single-session rate, or all-session passes will also be available for fans who plan to attend the entire event. Single-session passes cost $10 for adults and $5 for students, and all-session passes are $50 for adults and $25 for students. Heat sheets are included in the cost of admission. Children 5 and under are admitted free, and MIAC passes will be honored for all six session. No other passes or discounts will be accepted.
As in years past, all six sessions will be broadcast live online thanks to Webcast America. Fans will also be able to watched archived video of each session following the event and purchase DVDs of the broadcasts via Webcast America’s site. MIAC Media’s Mike Gallagher will handle play-by-play duties for four of the six sessions. There will also be “live” results available online with results updated shortly after the conclusion of each event for fans following the action from afar.
The MIAC has an exclusive Web site for the 2016 MIAC Swimming & Diving Championships. The site features the complete event schedule, psych sheet, ticket information and venue information. The site will be constantly updated throughout the event with heat sheets, links to follow the action live, results, recaps, photos and more.
Fans can also monitor MIAC men’s swimming and diving on-the-go thanks to the the MIAC mobile app, which is a free download for both Apple and Android devices. Also, connect to the conference on its Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube pages and use the official event hashtag #MIACSD to interact throughout the championships.
The rest of the 2016 MIAC Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships Preview contains helpful links, a promotional video, and a championship preview for each team submitted by their sports information director.