St. Peter, Minn. – The Gustavus Adolphus men’s swimming and diving team turned in a total of six event victories on its way to a first place finish with 1,209 points at the three-team Gustie Mini Invitational held Saturday at the Vic Gustafson Pool. The Gusties defeated Saint John’s University who placed second with 1,079 points and Morningside College who rounded out the meet’s competitors in third with 524 points.
Leading the way for the Black and Gold with two individual event wins each was swimmer Jacob Stern (So., Rosemount, Minn.) and diver Bennet Woltjer (So., Kandiyohi, Minn.). Stern took care of business in the breastroke races by winning the 100 with a time of 1:02.12 and 200 with a time of 2:16.98. Woltjer took the top spot on the podium in both diving events with a score of 267.20 on the one-meter and a 201.95 on the three-meter.
Zac Solis (Jr., Centennial, Colo.) and Sam Olson-Anstett (Sr. Shoreview, Minn.) recorded Gustavus’s other wins of the day. Solis took first in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:46.57, and added a runner-up performance in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:02.71. Olson-Anstett swam to a first place finish in the 100 butterfly where he touched the wall in 55.69.
Ross Larson (Jr., Brookings, S.D.) provided the Gusties big points with three finishes on the podium. Larson took runner-up in both the 100 backstroke (56.42) and 500 free (5:07.33), and took third in the 200 butterfly (2:10.34).
Tommy Panetti (Jr., Bloomington, Minn.), Ben Miller (So., Des Moines, Iowa), and Elliot Hoekstra (Sr., Mendota Heights, Minn.) all registered both a second and third place finish. Pannetti swam second in the 1,650-free (18:07.98) and third in the 400 IM (4:44.19). Miller finished second in the 200 backstroke (2:07.47) and third in the 100 backstroke (57.99). Hoekstra rounded out the trio with second place finish in the 200 breaststroke (2:22.04) and a third place mark in the 100 breaststroke (1:03.59).
Rounding out Gustavus’s top swimmers was Jeff Nelson (So, Maple Grove, Minn.), Matt Kuckler (Fr., St. Paul, Minn.), and Dan McCrackin (Fr., Eden Prairie, Minn.). Nelson placed second in the 200 IM (2:07.51), Kuckler touched the wall second in the 200 butterfly (2:09.93), and McCrackin finished third in the 1,650 free (18:30.81).
The Gustavus swimming and diving teams will be in action once more before embarking on its training trip to Puerto Rico over the holiday break. The Gusties will travel to Minneapolis and the campus of the University of Minnesota to compete in the Jean Freeman Invitational on Friday, December 6th and Saturday, December 7th.