The Gustavus men’s swimming and diving team moved up one spot from Thursday after picking up 232 points and now sit in third place with 392 points after the second day of competition at the 2012 MIAC Championships being held at the Aquatic Center on the campus of the University of Minnesota. St. Thomas is the current leader with 489 points, while St. Olaf is not far behind in second with 479 points.
“We had some great individual swims up-and-down the roster on the men’s side,” commented Head Coach Jon Carlson. “Although we didn’t win any events, we had a lot of guys who were ranked lower entering the meet turn in some really nice swims today. That gives us a chance to be competitive tomorrow.”
Seniors Matt Van Fossen (Albert Lea, Minn.) and Billy Schultze (Mankato, Minn.) led the Gusties with a pair of silver medal performances. Van Fossen’s second place mark came in the 100 butterfly, which he ranked fourth in entering the meet, after touching the wall in 51.05. Schultze, who entered the meet seeded sixth, finished runner-up in the 100 breaststroke after recording a time of 57.28, meeting the NCAA B cut standard.
In the 400 individual medley, freshman Zac Solis (Centennial, Colo.) came in fourth place after going 4:14.44, and senior Steven Manley (Apple Valley, Minn.) placed seventh after swimming a 4:16.93. Solis was ranked fourth in the 400 IM entering the meet while Manley ranked eighth.
Sophomore Sam Olson-Anstett (Shoreview, Minn.) and freshman Ross Larson (Brookings, S.D.) went seventh and eighth, respectively, in the 100 butterfly. Olson Anstett finished in 52.61 while Larson went 52.87. Larson also went on to take eighth in the 100 backstroke with a time of 53.71.
Sophomore Elliot Hoekstra (Mendota Heights, Minn.) and senior Zach Nachtsheim (Shoreview, MInn.) rounded out the day’s top performers with six place marks in their respective events. Hoekstra turned in a 59.18 in the 100 breaststroke, a big jump for the sophomore after ranking 11th coming into the race. Seventh-seeded Nachtsheim touched the wall in 53.24 in the 100 backstroke.
The 200-medley relay team of Larson, sophomore Peter Crady (St. Peter, Minn.), Van Fossen, and Nachtsheim teamed up to finish runner-up after touching up in 1:34.40. The first place St. Olaf group won the race with a time of 1:33.76, edging the Gusties by less one second.
Rounding out the day’s relay events was the fifth place finish of the 800-free relay team consisting of Schultze, Manley, frosh Kurt Youngdahl (Wayzata, Minn.), and senior Ben Stewart (Burnsville, Minn.). The team turned in a time of 6:59.46.
Following each race, all eight finalists were honored in brief awards ceremonies, and the top three finishers in each event received MIAC All-Conference honors and received medals for their achievement.
The stage has been set for a thrilling final day of action Saturday with two more sessions on the schedule. The preliminary round begins at 10:30 a.m. with the finals set to start Friday evening at 6:30 p.m.