MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Gustavus men’s swim & dive team got off to a great start Thursday in day one of the MIAC Championships, recording 232 points to sit in second place. St. Thomas holds the lead with 261 points, while St. Olaf is in third with 134 points.
“It was a great first day,” Head Coach Jon Carlson said. “You have to step up in championship meets and both the men and women did that today. I’m so proud of what was accomplished today and it was a very exciting two sessions. There were so many times that dropped today, which makes us excited for what tomorrow holds.”
The 200 IM was the highlight of the night for the Gusties as they finished 1-2-4. Nolan Larson (Fy., West Des Moines, Iowa) made his name known in his first conference meet, winning the race with an NCAA B qualifying and school record time of 1:51.23. Tanner Sonnek (Jr., North Mankato, Minn.), the defending MIAC 200 IM champion, took second in 1:52.19, which also broke the previous school record set by himself last season. Both Larson and Sonnek earned All-Conference for finishing in the top three. Ryan Sklar (So., lake Oswego, Ore.) took fourth place with a time of 1:56.03.
Silver medals and All-Conference honors were earned by the 200 freestyle relay team, the 400 medley relay team, and Logan Bican (So., Monticello, Minn.) in the one-meter dive. Sonnek, Will Clark (So., Northfield, Minn.), Sam Deyak (Fy., Iowa City, Iowa), and Andrew Peters (Jr., Montevideo, Minn.) touched to 200 free relay wall in 1:23.89, Josh Muntifering (Fy., Buffalo, Minn.), Sonnek, Sklar, and Larson finished the 400 medley relay in 3:25.96, and Bican recorded an NCAA A qualifying score of 442.20 on the one-meter board.
Peters also took fourth in the 50 freestyle in 21.41 and Zach Dawson (So., Eagan, Minn.) placed fifth in the 500 free, touching the wall in 4:43.33. Josh Theis (So., Henderson, Minn.), Jonathan Bovee (Jr., Farmington, Minn.), and Carson Scholberg (Jr., Apple Valley, Minn.) took fifth-though-seventh, respectively, in the one-meter dive.
The MIAC Championships resume tomorrow with sessions at 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.