MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – For the first time since the 2007-08 season, the Gustavus men’s swim and dive team is MIAC Champions. The men totaled 938.5 points in the four days, while second place St. Thomas finished with 774.5. For his performance, Gustavus senior Tanner Sonnek was named MIAC Co-Swimmer of the Year, while Head Coach Jon Carlson was named MIAC Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year.
“It really was an incredible weekend for both the men and women,” said Carlson. “All of our student-athletes brought their very best and did all the things they needed to do to perform, and it showed in our team result. I’m proud of how we truly swam as a team and it was one of the most exhilarating coaching weekends of my career. I want to thank all the students, fans, parents, and alumni for the support because they gave us a truly electric environment. It really was a treat with how well our athletes performed, and it’s an honor to be their coach.”
The men started their day participating in the 1650 yard freestyle in which Zach Dawson took home All-Conference honors with a second place finish for the Gusties. Eamonn McCullough and Thomas Fitzloff finished in seventh and eighth respectively for Gustavus.
The 200 backstroke was next with Josh Muntifering taking home fourth place honors, and Caleb Torvik finishing in sixth.
The Gusties pushed themselves further ahead in the standings in the 100 free, taking home three of the top five spots and two All-Conference spots.. Matthew Allison finished in first with a time of 45.00 and Dutch Franko-Dynes finished third to earn All-Conference honors while Andrew Peters took fifth.
Sonnek then continued his dominant run in the 200 breaststroke where he set a meet record and won by five seconds with an NCAA Selection time of 1:59.82. Riley Fairbanks took home fourth in the event with a time of 2:06.90.
The 200 butterfly was next where Nolan Larson and Ryan Sklar took home All-Conference with second and third place finishes, while Frankie Zobitz took eighth for the Gusties.
The last event of the day was the men’s 400 freestyle relay, where the Gusties finished off the MIAC Championship with a first place time of 3:02.92.
The NCAA Championships will be held this year on Mar. 20-23.