GRINNELL, Iowa – The Gustavus men’s swimming and diving team took second place out of eight teams at the Grinnell Invitational on Saturday. The Gusties posted a team score of 790.5, while host Grinnell took first at 1122 and Nebraska Wesleyan took third at 764.
“It was a close battle with Nebraska Wesleyan for second,” Head Coach Jon Carlson said. “Going into the last session we needed a lot of people to move up if we were going to hold on to second place. The team really stepped up. Tonight the team came together and performed well. Jeff Nelson made a huge jump from 18th to 11th in the 50 free to seal our fate for second place.”
Tanner Sonnek (Fy., North Mankato, Minn.) continued to impress as he took second in the 200 breaststroke (2:10.51), third in the 100 breaststroke (59.90) and fourth in the 200 IM (2:01.69).
Seth Berry (So., Bloomington, Minn.) also had a good showing as he took third in the 50 freestyle with a time of 22.29. Berry had a hand in three relays placing in the top four. The 800 freestyle relay team of Will Bragg (So., Eagan, Minn.), Andrew Peters (Fy., Montevideo, Minn.), Jeffrey Nelson (Sr., Maple Grove, Minn.) and Berry took second with a time of 7:29.63, while the 200 free relay team of Berry, Frankie Zobitz (Fy., White Bear Lake, Minn.), Nelson and Adam Peters (Jr., Montevideo, Minn.) took fourth with a time of 1:30.18. The 200 medley relay team of Nelson, Sonnek, Ben Miller (Sr., Des Moines, Iowa) and Berry took third in 1:39.48.
Jonathan Bovee (Fy., Farmington, Minn.) took third in the one-meter diving with a score of 388.90, while Carson Scholberg (Fy., Apple Valley, Minn.) took fourth with a 370.20. Scholberg and Bovee also took third and fourth, respectively, in the three-meter diving with scores of 338.25 and 327.10.
Gustavus returns to the pool next Friday at the University of St. Thomas.