Gustavus Edges Carthageto win CollegeSwimming.com Classic

At the TYR/CollegeSwimming.com Classic, the margin of victory could not have been closer as the fourth-ranked Gustavus Adolphus men's swimming team upended the ninth-ranked Red Men by just one-half of a point 976.5 - 976. Second-ranked St. Olaf finished third with 957.5 points followed by St. Cloud State (641), Lewis (441), Illinois Tech (214), and Lake Forest (171). Division II Saint Cloud State University won the women's site handily, finishing with 1141. Number seven St. Olaf was second with 798 points followed by Gustavus (714), the host Lady Reds (705), Lewis (413), Illinois Tech (282), Lake Forest (237) and North Park (42).

The Red Men and Lady Reds combined for five event victories. The men's 200 free relay team of Bryce Davis, Henry Somers, Jimmy Spaulding and Jared Hallam established a new pool and meet record with a time of 1:25.63. The Lady Reds also added a win in the 200 Medley Relay with a time of 1:53.52. The Lady Reds' Sarah Reynertson was victorious in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:01.65 while Ivan Manolov was victorious in the 200 breaststroke (2:10.73). Edgar Vargas offered the final win of the day, taking the 50 freestyle in 21.26. Vargas set the Carthage school record with his preliminary time of 21.23.

"It was good to see our women get up for events tonight," said women's coach Sue Nutty, "we had some tremendous swims and have some great things to look forward to."

"A great meet, with some great competitors," was how men's coach Greg Earhart described the meet. Earhart added, "For us to be this competitive was very encouraging considering we didn't field some of our best swimmers in their best events." Notably, Zach Jole (ranked second in the 100 breaststroke in Division III) and Nathaniel Chapman (ranked 4th in the 200 backstroke), swam off events following last weekend's University of Minnesota invitational.