Led by four wins by junior Scott Hagemeyer (two individual, two relay) and three others by Billy Cuevas, the Gustavus men’s swimming and diving team captured wins in 14 of 16 events en route to a 187-85 dual win over Saint John’s Saturday afternoon in St. Peter. The Gusties, who set a pair of Lund Natatorium records in the win, improve to 7-0 in duals this season.
Hagemeyer (Jr., Willmar, Minn.) took individual titles in the 50 freestyle (21.52 seconds) and 100 freestyle (47.89 seconds), edging out teammate Brian Amundson (Jr., Blaine, Minn.) in both races. Amundson opened with a 21.77 clocking in the 50 free and followed that up with a 48.35 turn in the 100 free. In addition to his individual success, Hagemeyer also swam legs on both Gustavus winning relays. He opened the meet by anchoring the 200 medley relay to victory. The team of Jeff Pearson (Sr., Woodbury, Minn.), Jonah Winter (So., Park Rapids, Minn.), Connor Ziegler (So., Sauk Rapids, Minn.) and Hagemeyer recorded a time of 1:38.60. Hagemeyer swam the second leg of the 400 freestyle relay, teaming with Amundson, Ben Hanson (So., Minnetonka, Minn.) and Matt Stewart (Fr., Burnsville, Minn.) to close out the meet with a 3:12.55 clocking.
Cuevas (Fr., Woodbury, Minn.) recorded added victories in the 500 freestyle (4:45.71), 200 individual medley (2:00.92) and 200 butterfly (1:58.03) to help the Gustie cause.
Hanson and Stewart each added an individual victory to their relay success. Hanson was victorious in the 1000 freestyle in a pool-record time of 9:51.46, while Stewart posted a pool-record time of 1:44.49 to win the 200 freestyle.
Winter and Josh Waylander (Jr., Montevideo, Minn.) won the 100 breaststroke and 200 backstroke by a combined 0.22 seconds. Winter captured the 100 breaststroke in a time of 1:04.85, just 0.20 seconds ahead of teammate Nick DeLeeuw (So., Hutchinson, Minn.), while Waylander picked up the 200 backstroke victory in 2:01.67, just 0.02 seconds ahead of Jeff Pearson.
David Hawkinson (Fr., Prior Lake, Minn.) swept both diving events, finishing just ahead of teammate Chris Hedberg (So., Plymouth, Minn.) on both occasions.
Dave Pearson (Fr., Woodbury, Minn.) picked up the final Gustie victory, winning the 200 breaststroke in 2:19.27, four seconds faster than Winter.
The Gusties’ final three events of the season all take place at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center in Minneapolis. This weekend’s Minnesota Challenge (Feb. 3-4) will be followed by the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Swimming and Diving Championships (Feb. 16-18). MIAC rival Carleton will host the 2006 NCAA Division III Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships at the University of Minnesota March 16-18.