STEVENS POINT, Wis. – Both the Gustavus men’s and women’s swimming & diving teams sit in second place after day one of the UW-Stevens Point Invite on Friday. The women accumulated 381 points, while the men have 480. Division II Minnesota State, Mankato leads the four-team women’s field with 612 points and host UW-Stevens Point leads the three-team men’s field with 607.5 points.
The men’s swimmers were led by the trio of Nolan Larson (Fy., West Des Moines, Iowa), Tanner Sonnek (Jr., North Mankato, Minn.), and Mack Christianson (Fy., Cottage Grove, Minn.), who all finish in first place in one of their events. Larson and Sonnek went one-two in the 200 IM with times of 2:00.98 and 2:01.18, respectively. Sonnek later won the 200 breaststroke in 2:10.76. Christianson touched the wall first in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:56.06.
On the three-meter diving board, Jonathan Bovee (Jr., Farmington, Minn.) recorded an NCAA qualifying score of 463.3.
“The men had a great day in the prelims and finals,” Head Coach Jon Carlson said. “I was very proud of our individual winners. It was tough competition today and we’re looking forward to tomorrow.”
MSU-Mankato set the pace on the women’s side as the Gusties didn’t receive any first place finishers, but there were a few in the top-three of their events. The 200 freestyle relay team of Kennedy Holwerda (Sr., Willmar, Minn.), Kate Reilly (Sr., Hastings, Minn.), Alyssa Lokensgard (So., St. Peter, Minn.), and Maggie Webster (Jr., Apple Valley, Minn.) took second in 1:39.80. Reilly also took second in the 100 freestyle, finishing in 55.20. And Holwerda placed third in the 200 IM in 2:17.90.
“The women’s depth really helped us create some separation from the other two Division III teams here,” Carlson said. “We have another great opportunity tomorrow to continue to swim well.”
The two sessions tomorrow start at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.