St. Thomas compiled 709 points to claim the 2010 MIAC Swimming and Diving Championship on Saturday night in the Aquatics Center on the campus of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. The Tommies held off Gustavus, who finished in second place for the second consecutive year, tallying 701 points over the past three days. St. Olaf rounded out the top three by taking third with 615.5 points.
It came down to the final event of the evening to determine the 2009-10 MIAC Champion, as Gustavus and St. Thomas entered the 400 freestyle relay neck-and-neck in the team standings. The higher finisher would be the champion, as Gustavus entered the race five seconds behind the Tommies after the morning preliminaries. St. Thomas proved to be too strong, as the Tommies claimed victory in the event with a time of 3:03.40. The Gustavus team of Skylar Davis, Whitaker Davis, Lance Switzer, and William Schultze finished fourth in 3:09.40.
Skylar Davis made history at the meet by becoming only the second swimmer in Gustavus history to become MIAC Champion in the same event four years in a row. Skylar won the 1650 freestyle with an NCAA B qualifying time of 15:48.27, becoming the four-time champion in the event. Gustavus filled the podium in the 1650 freestyle, as Whitaker Davis placed second (15:55.22), John Rice placed third (16:21.95), and Ross Elenkiwich finished fourth (16:30.71). Whitaker’s time was fast enough to make the NCAA B cut.
William Schultze was also an event winner, finishing first in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:08.23. Paul Kirihara placed third in the 200 backstroke with an NCAA B qualifying time of 1:53.66. Elenkiwich added his second top five finish of the night by taking fourth in the 200 butterfly (1:58.38).