ST. PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus women’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 are seeking their seventh consecutive MIAC crown after edging second place St. Thomas last season by 41.5 points.
Not only is Gustavus aiming to maintain its stranglehold on top of the conference, but also multiple individuals are looking to repeat as event champions. Hayley Booher (Jr., Warren Vt.) will defend her titles in the 200 and 400 individual medleys, as well as a returning member of the 2015 first place 400 medley relay and 800 freestyle relay teams. Also taking home gold medals last year were the 200 freestyle relay team, Kate Reilly (So., Hastings, Minn.) in the 100 butterfly, the 800 freestyle relay team, and the 400 freestyle relay team.
The Gusties are seeded first in four events entering this year’s MIAC Championships – the 200 freestyle relay team, Linnea Rizzo (Fy., Woodbury, Minn.) in the 500 freestyle and 1650 freestyle, and Reilly in the 100 breaststroke.
Gustavus also boasts multiple top-four seeds this week. Ranking second include Reilly in the 50 freestyle (took third in 2015), Rizzo in the 400 IM, Morgan Field (Sr., Albert Lea, Minn.) in the 100 and 200 breaststrokes, the 400 medley relay team, the 200 medley relay team, and the 800 freestyle relay team. Third place seeds go to Booher in the 200 and 400 individual medleys, and the 100 and 200 backstrokes, Reilly in the 100 freestyle (took second in 2015), Tarin Anding (Sr., Sartell, Minn.) in the 200 breaststroke, and the 400 freestyle relay team. Fourth place seeds go to Reilly in the 100 butterfly, Leah Anderson (Sr., Apple Valley, Minn.) in the 200 freestyle (took third in 2015), and Michelle Simms (Fy., Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) in the 200 butterfly.
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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.