Strong Jean Freeman Invitational Sends MIAC Swimming Into Winter

Marla Thomforde

By Wilson Josephson, Allie Clark, Swimming World College Interns

NORTHFIELD – Nearly the entire Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) swimming took part in the Jean Freeman Invitational this past weekend.

Much of the MIAC tapered for this meet, and fans were rewarded with some brutally fast swims and a smattering of B cuts in what is conceivably a sneak peek of the events to come at conference championships.

The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) teams are: Carleton College; St. Olaf College; The University of St. Thomas (UST); Gustavus Adolphus College (GAC); Hamline University; Macalester College; Saint Mary’s University; St. John’s University (men); College of Saint Benedict (women); Augsburg College (women); Concordia College (women); St. Catherine University (women).

AUGSBURG

Junior Kelsey Knollmueller set two school records in the 200 IM (2:17.19) and the 100 breaststroke (1:10.22). Junior Whitney Kieley also set two school records in the 100 backstroke (1:04.83) and in the 50 backstroke (30.69). The 200 medley relay of Kieley, Knollmueller, freshman Therese Normann, and freshman Rachel Brooker also took down Augsburg’s previous school record with a time of 1:57.55. The Augsburg ladies will be training hard down in Puerto Rico and have their next dual meet in January against Hamline.

CARLETON

Senior Evan Harris earned the first B-cut for the Carleton men this season, swimming the 200 breaststroke in 2:05.85. Harris added to his success in the 200 with a 58.17 in the 100 breaststroke and a stunning 1:54.55 in the 200 IM. While these may well be the events he swims for the Knights at conference this winter, Harris also proved his utility in the shorter events, swimming in each of Carleton’s A relays. Jonathan Brodie added to Harris’ successes in the backstroke events, posting 53.18 and 1:57.77, while sprinters Wilson Josephson and Evan Lahr both dipped under 48 in their 100 freestyles, moving into ninth and tenth place in the MIAC.

Maria Wetzel also earned her first B-cut of the season, swimming the 200 backstroke in 2:03.26 in both the prelims and finals heats. She pulled off a similarly impressive feat in the 100, tying her preliminary swim of 58.25 when leading off Carleton’s 400 medley relay in the evening. Carleton freshman Lexi Shin was dominant in the first mile of her college career, swimming 18:52, good for seventeenth place (seventh among MIAC competitors).

CONCORDIA

Sophomore Madeline Johnson performed well in the 200 backstroke (2:18.40), 200 freestyle (2:07.50), and 100 backstroke (1:03.63). Freshman Siri Berry posted solid times in her 50 freestyle (27.41), 200 butterfly (2:32.10), and 100 freestyle (58.84). Sophomore Abbey Benson placed 29th in the 200 butterfly (2:37.37) which makes her one of the three Cobbers who finished in the top thirty at the meet. The other two were Johnson in the 200 back and Berry in the 200 fly. Other stand out swims came from Ann Marie O’Connell who swam the 500 freestyle (5:45.26) and Andrea Kittleson who swam the 400 IM (5:24.11). The Cobbers will be taking a break from competition until January when they will compete in the MSU Moorhead Dragon Invitational.

GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS

Zac Solis was the top finisher in both the mile and the 500 freestyle this past weekend, posting 16:52.56 and 4:42.27. He left his closest competition – Carleton’s Alex Mathson – nine seconds behind in both of those events. Gustavus’ men also found success in the shorter freestyle events, where senior Kurt Youngdahl pulled through with a 21.44 and 47.93.

Senior Jenny Strom had a phenomenal weekend, bringing in three B cuts for Gustavus. She continues her MIAC dominance in both breaststroke events (1:03.56 amd 2:21.07) and pocketed a B cut in the 400 IM on her way, finishing in 4:36.33. She added to these a clear victory in the 500 freestyle, putting more than ten seconds between herself and her nearest MIAC competitor and finishing in 5:07.10. Katie Olson and Kate Reilly also took home B cuts from the invite, Olson leading the 100 free in 51.78 while Reilly earned her cut in the 50 with 23.81. Reilly finished just behind Olson in the 100 free (52.25) and beat out teammate Dani Klunk in the 100 fly (57.58 and 57.95, respectively). Klunk won the 200 fly convincingly in 2:11.98. Gustavus’ depth, as demonstrated at this invitational, means that 2015 may be another year in which their first place finish at championships goes uncontested.

HAMLINE

On the women’s side, senior Hannah Hawker led the way by posting solid mid-season times in the 50 freestyle (26.42) and the 200 backstroke (2:22.55). Following closely behind Hawker in the 50 free was teammate Savannah Robertson (26.58) which was fast enough to break into the top 50 swimmers of that event. The women have a break from competition until January when they will go head to head against Augsburg college.

For the men, Hodd Gorman charged ahead by posting the time of 17:27.18 in the mile which was fast enough to get him 11th place. Gorman also swam the 500 free (4:57.69) where he placed 21st. Teammate Ethan Ross placed 16th in the 200 butterfly (2:04.59) and Victor Lara placed 24th in the 200 freestyle (1:49.75). Skiah Garde Garcia, Hamline’s star diving recruit, finished as the top D3 entry off the three meter board, scoring 198.6 points. He scored 209.9 off the one-meter board, finishing in tenth. This invite gave the Pipers a chance to get comfortable in the pool where the conference championships will be held in February. Like the women, the men will not be competing until January.

MACALESTER

The Macalester women had strong relays at the meet this past weekend. Their 800 freestyle relay of senior Alese Halvorson, freshman Kaila Chapman, and sophomores Hannah Bonestroo and Smaranda Georgescu (8:39.05) placed 8th overall. The 400 medley relay of Georgescu, junior Christina Bloom, freshman Kaia Lund, and Halvorson placed 19th overall. Placing 15th was their 400 freestyle relay of Georgescu, Lund, Chapman, and Halvorson (3:48.80). The Scots have a break from training until they arrive in Florida for their training trip. Their next competition will be against St. Olaf in January.

The Mac men also had a strong set of relays but they also had one member advance to finals in individual events. For relays, the 800 freestyle relay of Ian Lock, Luke Bower, Samuel Gleason and Ben Kromash earned 12th place with a time of 7:57.09. The other relay that placed well was the 400 freestyle relay of Kromash, Lock, Bower and Gleason placed 11th with a time of 3:26.83. For individuals, Kromash made it back to finals in the 200 butterfly and placed 16th with a time of 1:08.99. Like the women, the Scots have a break from competition until January and will be enjoying the warm weather in Florida on their training trip.

ST. JOHN’S

The Johnnies had seven top 15 finishes at day two of the meet this past weekend. Senior Joe Duxbury finished seventh in the 100 breaststroke (59.13), ninth in the 50 freestyle (21.53), and eighth in the 100 butterfly (53.14). Junior Paul Knaak went 21.90 in his 50 freestyle which was fast enough for 12th place and he placed eighth in the 100 freestyle (47.90). Junior Braden McCormack was 12th in the 100 backstroke (54.79) and junior Nolan Bauer claimed 14th in the mile (17:39.58). The Johnnies will return to competition in January.

ST. BEN’S

Junior Stephanie Bierman led the Blazers this weekend by making it back to finals in two individual events. One was the 200 freestyle (1:58.74) where she placed 16th and the 100 freestyle (53.53) were she placed 12th. Other fast swims came from freshman Kenzie Young with a 15th place finish in the mile (18:37.04). Their 800 freestyle relay of Young, Lauren Noel, Hannah Manley, and Haley Chatelaine placed 7th with the time of 8:36.49. Overall, a solid meet for the Blazers. They have a break until January 1st, which is when they will fly down to Florida for their training trip. They return to Minnesota just in time to swim against St. Thomas on the 10th of January.

SAINT MARY’S

Saint Mary’s best performances came from some of their youngest swimmers at this meet. Freshman Katie Heller post 26.22, 58.72, and 2:09.29 in the freestyle events, leading the team in each. Teammate Grace van Beest swam both breaststroke events (1:14.87 and 2:42.40) as well as the 200 IM (2:32.48). Fellow sophomore Joe Tonda was the highest finisher for the Saint Mary’s men, as they were without freshman Zac Finkelstein. Tonda also swam both breaststroke events and the 200 IM, going 1:09.27 and 2:29.78, and finishing the IM in 2:12.51. Unlike van Beest, Tonda added a fourth event to his schedule, leading the Saint Mary’s men in the 100 freestyle by finishing in 53.21. No Saint Mary’s swimmers advanced to the evening finals, but they’ll likely build on strong performances such as these. They’ll be ready for some night swimming come February.

ST. OLAF

The St. Olaf men brought a slew of B cuts back to Northfield with them. Tanner Roe earned B cuts in both IM events (1:52.28 and 4:02.42), dominating his MIAC competition. Billy Brebrick beat St. Thomas’ Mike Lanz in both the fly events (48.90 and 1:48.77). Perhaps most impressive were the Olaf breaststrokers, who, in the 100 breaststroke, took the top three places at the meet. Nick Wilkerson was first in 57.05, followed by Nathaniel France in 57.33, while Erik Money finished in 57.71 (each of these swims were good for a B cut). Wilkerson also earned a B cut in the 200 breaststroke, taking the top MIAC spot in 2:03.89. While he didn’t earn any B cuts for Olaf, Mike Gratz was brought off the bench, which is a huge step forward and an indicator that he intends to swim this winter. He only entered relays, but swam a few quick leadoff legs, including 47.67 in the 400 free relay and 52.20 leading the 400 medley. He now holds the top 100 backstroke time in the MIAC.

The St. Olaf women’s squad was once again led by juniors Abbey Schnaith and Maddie Lee. Lee preserved her top spot in the 200 freestyle, leading the conference in 1:53.46. She also performed admirably in the 500, finishing second among MIAC swimmers in 5:18.33, and was the first finisher not from Gustavus in the 200 IM in 2:11.13. Schnaith did a great job in the freestyle sprints, finishing in 24.64 and 53.33, though she found more success in the backstroke events, finishing in 59.87 and 2:07.80. These times are currently good for third and second in the MIAC, respectively.

ST. THOMAS

Despite the fact that neither St. Thomas team seemed quite as tapered as the St. Olaf or Carleton teams, they still put up a number of quick times. Elise Guenther separated herself from Gustavus’ Libby Larson in the mile by just a few tenths, closing in 18:21.51 for the conference’s top spot. Senior Mariann Kukielka focused her efforts on winning the 100 butterfly, which paid off: she swam 57.34 on Saturday, putting herself at number one in the MIAC, ahead of four Gustavus women.

Freshmen Warren Melton and Brady Anderson led the way on the men’s side, proving to the MIAC that St. Thomas will be in good hands even after they graduate the likes of Chris Tri and Mike Lanz. Melton swam the 200 fly in 1:57.69 and the 400 IM in 4:15.30. His time puts him second in the conference in the 400 IM; we’ll almost certainly get to see him try the event again come championships. Anderson, meanwhile, took over first place in the conference in the 200 backstroke, swimming a 1:54.34 to top the MIAC by more than 3 seconds.

ST. KATE’S

St. Kate’s was the only team in the MIAC that did not attend the Jean Freeman Invitational. They traveled instead to St. Cloud State, where they entire squad pursued season bests. Highlight swims came from French Krahn and Abby Larson. Krahn dropped five seconds from her best 200 breaststroke times of the season, finishing in 2:30.53 (good for 19th place). Abby Larson improved her season best in the 500 by twenty seconds, finishing in 5:29.13. Larson added to this with a lifetime best in the 100 freestyle, shaving off a few tenths to finish in 56.54. Following in their footsteps, St. Kate’s brought a total of nineteen season- or career-best swims home with them from St. Cloud State.

And now each MIAC team will break from competition for the winter. Many will travel to warmer climes for training trips in December and January, but each team will remember this championship preview as they slog through their toughest sets. Competition will begin again on January 9.

Wilson Josephson and Allie Clark are teammates at Carleton College.  Josephson is a junior butterfly specialist, while Clark is a sophomore who fills in multiple roles on the team.

 

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