ST. PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams are prepared to compete in the 2016 Jean Freeman Invitational this weekend at the University of Minnesota.
Diving events are scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. Friday and Saturday, while swimming preliminaries are set for 10:00 a.m. both days at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center.
Gustavus will be competing alongside 16 other schools at the meet, including Augsburg College, Augustana College, Carleton College, the College of Saint Benedict, Hamline University, Luther College, Macalester College, Saint Mary’s University, South Dakota State University, St. Catherine University, Saint John’s University, St. Olaf College, The University of South Dakota, University of Minnesota, University of Minnesota Morris, and the University of St. Thomas.
The Gusties most recently competed two weekends ago as they hosted the third annual Grace Goblirsch Invitational at Vic Gustafson Pool. The men earned a first place finish of six teams while the women finished second of seven teams.
In 18 total events, the Gustie men owned eight first place finishes. Matt Allison (Fy., Grand Rapids, Minn.) and Tanner Sonnek (So., North Mankato, Minn.) each earned two individual top finishes to lead the way for the Black and Gold.
Sonnek won both of his individual events, racing to victory in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:10.75 and the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:01.56. His two first-place finishes helped Gustavus rack up 1,321 total points to win by a wide margin. For his performance, Sonnek was honored as the MIAC Men’s Swimming & Diving Athlete of the Week.
This season, Sonnek ranks first in the MIAC in the 200-breast by more than four seconds with his season-best time of 2:09.69, and his 500-free time from Saturday is the ninth-fasted in the MIAC this season.
The Gustie women owned six runner-up finishes. Hayley Booher (Sr., Warren, Vt.) earned second place finishes in the 100-yard, 200-yard backstroke and the individual medley. Kennedy Holwerda (Jr., Willmar, Minn.) was the runner-up in the 200-yard breaststroke. In the 400-yard individual medley, Linnea Rizzo (So., Woodbury, Minn.) was the runner-up of 17 competitors with a time of 4:50.85. Maggie Webster (So., Apple Valley, Minn.) rounded out the individual runner-up finishes as she was second of 45 participants with a time of 55.65 in the 100-yard freestyle.
2016-17 Gustavus Swimming & Diving Links: