(photo courtesy of Alex Nadeau, SPX Sports)
ST. PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus women’s swimming and diving team hosted the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and Minnesota State University-Mankato on Saturday for its home opener, defeating the Pointers 206.5-92.5 and losing to the Mavericks 214-85.
“We had a bunch of different people that swam great,” Head Coach Jon Carlson said. “Kate Reilly (Sr., Hastings, Minn.) had an awesome meet and I think all of our sprinters swam great. Sydney Hallmark (Jr., Cedarburg, Wis.) has been ripping it up at practice and brought that same excitement and quality swimming to the meet today; her 200 free was phenomenal. What’s also exciting is that even though we swam fast, there are plenty of things that we can continue to improve on.”
Hallmark won the 200 freestyle in 2:00.76 and Reilly won the 100 free in 54.10. Other notable performances include second place finishes by Allie Mayfield (So., Two Harbors, Minn.) in the 1000 free (11:26.32), Maggie Webster (Jr., Apple Valley, Minn.) in the 50 free (25.06), Kennedy Holwerda (Sr., Willmar, Minn.) in the 200 back (2:18.84), and Amelia Bjorklund (Fy., Bloomington, Minn.) in the 500 free (5:34.15).
“I’m looking forward to getting back to practice next week and cleaning up things on turns and technique on starts,” Carlson said. “The team is really focused now and that’s a great thing. We’re about two-and-a-half weeks out from our Thanksgiving break and we are going to make the most of it and make sure we are as good as we possibly can be going into our midseason meet the first weekend in December.”
The Gusties host St. Olaf at 1 p.m. next Saturday at Vic Gustafson Pool.