MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus College men’s swim and dive team is currently in fourth place with 147 points after day one of competition at the MIAC Championships on Thursday at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center. The Gusties trail by three points behind Carleton and three-and-a-half points behind St. Olaf, while St. Thomas leads with 283.5 points.
“Tonight I thought the team stepped up, giving us one of the best first days we’ve had,” said Head Coach Jon Carlson. “The men are in the mix. It’s very exciting to be sitting in fourth, since we weren’t expecting to be in that position after the first day.”
The Gusties opened the meet strong with a third place finish (1:25.27) in the 200 freestyle relay of Zach Holman (Fy., Mayer, Minn.), Jeff Nelson (Sr., Maple Grove, Minn.), Seth Berry (So., Bloomington, Minn.) and Adam Peters (Jr., Montevideo, Minn.), earning All-Conference.
Gustavus was also able to find the podium in several individual events, starting with Jacob Stern’s (Sr., Rosemount, Minn.) eighth place finish in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:46.72. The men had their strongest individual showing of the night in the 200 individual medley where Tanner Sonnek (Fy., North Mankato, Minn.) notched a fourth place finish clocking in at 1:55.70, followed closely by Nelson in fifth (1:57.86).
Gustavus’s two first-year divers Jon Bovee (Fy., Farmington, Minn.) and Carson Scholberg (Fy., Apple Valley, Minn.) played a crucial role in earning the team’s fourth place standing. Bovee tallied 370.20 points placing fifth on the one-meter board, while Scholberg followed in sixth with 324.70.
Ben Miller (Sr., Des Moines, Iowa.), Berry, Holman, and Sonnek closed out the night with a fifth place finish in the 400-medley relay with a time of 3:29.77.
“The men are in a great place right now, but there are still two more days of competition left, so hopefully we’ll be able to get up and swim well again tomorrow,” Carlson said.
Friday’s competition begins with prelims at 10:30 a.m. and finals at 6:30 p.m. at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center.