[updated 3/18]
SHENANDOAH, Texas – The Gustavus men’s and women’s swimming teams wrapped up competition at the 2017 NCAA Championships Saturday, highlighted by two All-American finishes from Tanner Sonnek and an honorable mention honor for the women’s 200-yard freestyle relay team.
DAY ONE
Matt Allison (Fy., Grand Rapids, Minn.) finished 29th in the 50-yard freestyle, coming in at 20.88.
Tanner Sonnek (So., North Mankato, Minn.) finished 34th in the 200-yard individual medley, coming in at 1:54.37.
Kate Reilly (Jr., Hastings, Minn.) and Maggie Webster (So., Apple Valley, Minn.) both completed in the 50-yard freestyle. Reilly finished 26th at 23.77 while Webster finished 35th at 23.93.
Kennedy Holwerda (Jr., Willmar, Minn.), Reilly, Nicole Lohman (Sr., North Mankato, Minn.), and Webster competed in the 200-yard medley relay, finishing 25th with a time of 1:47.77.
None of the Gustie swim members qualified for the finals session in their respective events.
DAY TWO
In the morning preliminary session, the 200-yard freestyle relay team of Holwerda, Reilly, Lohman, and Webster clocked a time of 1:34.75 to finish 14th and earn a spot in the evening finals sessions in the consolation heat. Reilly also swam the 100-yard butterfly in 57.87.
Matt Allison competed in the 200-yard freestyle, improving his seeded time by a second to finish at 1:40.69 and break his own record.
In the finals session, the 200-yard freestyle relay team clocked a time of 1:35.25 to earn an All-American Honorable Mention honor.
“Overall we swam really well,” Head Coach Jon Carlson spoke on Thursday’s performance. “We set some lifetime bests in the 200 freestyle relay splits. I think the girls knew that they had a chance to be honorable mention, so they wanted to make sure their starts were safe and back off a bit to make sure they received that honor. The trouble with relays is that all four have to hit at the same time at this level. If anybody is off or makes a mistake, it makes it tough to place well.”
DAY THREE
Tanner Sonnek
In the morning preliminary session, Tanner Sonnek qualified for the championship finals session in the 100-yard breaststroke, clocking a time of 55.24 to finish seventh as the No. 8 seed.
In the finals, Sonnek improved his time and set a career-best 100 breaststroke time of 54.81 to claim a seventh place All-American finish, breaking his previously set school record.
“Tanner swam phenomenal,” said Head Coach Jon Carlson. “In the morning, he put together a great swim and his goal for the finals was to get under 55 seconds. He was able to put together a very smart swim and we are excited for his 200 breaststroke tomorrow.”
DAY FOUR
In the morning preliminary session, Tanner Sonnek excelled again for the Gusties as he qualified for the finals in the 200-yard breaststroke with another career-best and school record time.
Sonnek earned the No. 4 spot for the finals as he beat his previously set record time of 2:02.96 at the MIAC Championships with a time of 1:59.77.
The 400-yard freestyle relay team of Nicole Lohman, Kennedy Holwerda, Maggie Webster, and Kate Reilly clocked a time of 3:29.32 to finish 17th. Kate Reilly also competed in the 100-yard freestyle, clocking a time of 52.54. Matt Allison also participated in the 100 freestyle and posted a 45.76 finish.
In the 200 breaststroke finals, Sonnek improved upon his morning session and clocked a time of 1:58.98 to beat his own record and earn an All-American fifth place finish.
“It was a magical day for Tanner,” said Head Coach Jon Carlson. “Everybody swam well, but Tanner was on another level. To drop three seconds from his seed time in prelims and then to drop another second in the finals was a well-earned All-American honor. It makes us very excited for the future.”
“It was a great week, everybody swam hard and really kept the atmosphere positive,” said Carlson. “I think that was one of the keys towards why we kept swimming better and better throughout the weekend.”