COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – The Gustvaus men’s and women’s swimming teams competed at Saint John’s University Friday, the men taking the lead over the Johnnies and the women leading over the College of Saint Benedict.
The Gustie men defeated Saint John’s by a score of 147-96 while the women won by a margin of 151-91 over the Blazers from Saint Ben’s.
“We swam really well,” said Head Coach Jon Carlson. “We are starting to put some things together and getting some of the technical things right. Our race strategy really showed tonight and we did a great job taking care of details. We have been doing that kind of stuff in practice and now we are applying it to racing.”
MEN
The Gustavus men’s squad captured eight first place finishes. Zach Dawson (Fy., Eagan, Minn.) and Tanner Sonnek (So., North Mankato, Minn.) led the way with two top individual finishes each. Dawson was first in the 1,000 yard freestyle with a time of 10:12.42 and first in the 500 yard freestyle, clocking a time of 4:55.30. Sonnek finished first in the 200-yard individual medley at 2:00.45 and the 100-yard breaststroke at 58.42.
Additionally, Matt Allison (Fy., Grand Rapids, Minn.) was first in the 200-yard freestyle (1:47.72), Zach Holman (So., Mayer, Minn.) first in the 100-yard butterfly (54.85), and Frankie Zobitz (So., White Bear Lake, Minn.) first in the 100-yard backstroke (57.01).
Finally, the 200-yard medley relay team of Zach Olson (Sr., Huron, S.D.), Sonnek, Ryan Sklar (Fy., Lake Oswego, Ore.), and Adam Peters (Sr., Montevideo, Minn.) earned the top crown with a finals time of 1:52.85.
On Saturday, Gustavus participated in diving events. They held one top finish from Logan Bican (Fy., Monticello, Minn.). Bican was crowned the top score in three-meter diving with 427.7 points. Bican also was the runner-up in one-meter diving with 448.5, which is a regional qualifying score.
WOMEN
The Gustie women captured nine top finishes. They were led by Hayley Booher (Sr., Warren, Vt.) and Linnea Rizzo (So., Woodbury, Minn.) who each earned two top times. Booher was first in the 200-yard individual medley (2:17.33) and the 100-yard backstroke (1:02.91) while Rizzo finished first in the 1,000-yard freestyle (11:10.92) and the 500-yard freestyle (5:25.08).
Three more individual top times came from Nicole Lohman (So., North Mankato, Minn.), Haley Pesik (So., Eagan, Minn.), and Kate Reilly, (Jr., Hastings, Minn.). Lohman was first in the 100-yard freestyle (55.97), Pesik was first in the 200-yard freestyle (2:01.23), and Reilly captured the top finish in the 100-yard butterfly (59.78).
Additionally, the women had to first place relay times. The 200-yard medley relay squad of Booher, Maddie Westendorp (Fy., St. Michael, Minn.), Reilly, and Kennedy Holwerda (Jr., Willmar, Minn.) earned the top crown with a finals time of 1:52.85. The 200-yard freestyle relay team of Holwerda, Reilly, Lohman, and Alyssa Lokensgard (Fy., St. Peter, Minn.) also place first with a time of 1:39.92.
On Saturday, the women participated in diving events. Veronica Vasina (So., Arvada, Colo.) led the Gusties ash she competed in one and three-meter diving and earned third place scores in both.
“We took a lot of first places but we also had people that swam really well that didn’t necessarily finish first,” Carlson commented. “There was a positive attitude on the deck because people were having great swims left and right.”
Next weekend the Gustavus men’s and women’s swimming and diving squads are set to participate in the Minnesota Challenge at the University of Minnesota.