The Gustavus women’s swimming and diving team came away with a pair of wins against St. Thomas and Hamline in Saturday’s double-dual held in the Lund Natatorium in St. Peter, Minn. The Gusties defeated St. Thomas 183-116 and Hamline 245-27. Dajana Vidovic was the top Gustavus swimmer with two individual first place finishes, as Gustavus recorded 10 event wins.
“It was good to be back in the pool and race against somebody who is not your teammate for a change. I think that both the men and women were itching for a chance to get out and compete today,” said Head Coach Jon Carlson. “It was a good step in the right direction for out team in the new year.”
Vidovic led the way with a pair of wins in the 100 and 200 freestyle races. She swam a 1:58.40 in the 100 and a 54:89 in the 200. Steph Korba had a great meet with three finishes in the top-three, taking first in the 200 butterfly with a time of 2:18.42, second in the 100 butterfly with a time of 1:02.32, and third in the 200 IM.
Brogan Barr, Carley Mosher, and Laura Drake all registered a win and a runner-up finish in the meet. Barr won the 1000 free in 11:15.80 and took second in the 500 freestyle in 5:26.00. Mosher took the 200 backstroke with a time of 2:16.14 and finished second in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:01.02. Drake took first in the 100 breaststroke in 1:11.01 and second in the 200 breaststroke in 2:34.35.
Individual event winners also included Kelsey Lucia, Anika Erickson, and Darcy Reller. Lucia won the 50 free (25.08), Erickson took the 200 breaststroke (2:33.12), and Reller was the top Gustavus diver with a win in the three-meter with a score of 242.90. Marnie Luke added a second place finish in the 200 IM (2:23.19).
Third place Gustavus performers at the meet included Sarah Hund (50 and 100 free), Allyson Hannemann (100 back), Melissa Aune (1000 free), Karly Harrod (100 breaststroke), Anna Eames (200 butterfly), Quinn Arnold (200 back), Alicia Alvarado (1 mtr dive), and Katie Hellie (100 butterfly).
The Gustavus 200 medley relay team of Mosher, Drake, Korba, and Lucia took first place with a time of 1:51.15, while Serena Elthon, Erickson, Hellie, and Vidovic finished runner-up (1:53.35) in the race. The team of Mosher, Hund, Vidovic, and Barr teamed up to take second in the 800 free relay (8:07.27).
“The women swam great today. St. Thomas is really talented and will surely be right there at the end. Today, we just had more depth than they did and that was the difference,” said Carlson. “I give a lot of credit to all our swimmers across the board for putting in a complete team effort this afternoon.”
The Gustavus swimming and diving team will be back in the pool on Friday, Jan 14 in at dual meet against Carleton beginning at 5:00 p.m. in Northfield.