Friday's finals session at the 2015 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Swimming and Diving Championships saw the men's standings gain a little more clarity, while the women's race continued to build to a thrilling conclusion. A pair of MIAC records fell, numerous individuals added a second championship to their 2015 performance and the stage is certainly set for some Saturday drama.
While the men's team race saw a little separation at the top, the women's top two stayed neck and neck to set up a thrilling final day. Five-time defending champ Gustavus pulled ahead of St. Thomas but it's still extremely close, as the Gusties have 562.5 points and the Tommies have 547. St. Olaf is third with 332.5, Carleton sits in fourth with 254 and Saint Benedict rounds out the top five (184). Macalester (148) holds a slim lead of St. Catherine (136) for sixth with Hamline (106), Concordia (93), Augsburg (73) and Saint Mary's (67) completing the standings after two days of competition.
St. Thomas surged away from the pack Friday in the men's team race and will take a 114-point lead into the final day. The Tommies have 524.5 points, with two-time defending champion St. Olaf in second at 410.5. Carleton is a close third at 370, and Saint John's sits fourth with 343 points. Gustavus is also above the 300-point mark at 305 in fifth. Hamline is sixth with 169 points, and Macalester and Saint Mary's still remain deadlocked in seventh with 94 points apiece.
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Gustavus senior star Jennifer Strom made history Friday night by making it a career sweep in the women's 100-yard breaststroke and, to top it off, she broke her own MIAC record in the process. Strom claimed her fourth-straight MIAC title in the event with a time of 1:02.70, which broke her meet record of 1:03.44 set earlier Friday, and her conference record of 1:03.11, which she set in 2014. Her time also met the 2014 NCAA selection standard.
Strom's wasn't the first record to fall Friday, as the first two teams to touch the wall in the women's 200-yard medley relay both eclipsed the previous MIAC and meet records. St. Thomas won the race with a new record time of 1:43.14, and Gustavus' time of 1:43.55 also bettered the old record, with both meeting the 2014 NCAA Selection standard. In the men's 200-free relay, Carleton emerged from a furious three-team battle with a first-place time of 1:32.47. St. Olaf was second in 1:32.70 and St. Thomas was third in 1:33.45. The Knights and Oles both met the NCAA B cut.
Gustavus' Hayley Booher became a two-time champion in the 400-yard individual medley, and a two-time champion in 2015 as she added the 400 title to her 200-IM win from Thursday night. Booher finished with a time of 4:31.43, which met the NCAA B cut. St. Thomas took the next two places, with runner-up Katelyn Washenberger also meeting the B cut in 4:32.27. Tommies took three of the top four men's spots led by 400-IM champ Warren Melton, who swam to a B-cut time of 4:06.20 a night after finishing second in the 200-IM. Teammate Chris Tri was second and Dane Washenberger came in fourth.
St. Thomas' Michael Lanz successfully defended his 100-yard butterfly title in impressive fashion to earn his second win of the 2015 Championships after claiming the 200-IM title Thursday. Lanz finished in 48.34 and met the 2014 NCAA Seleciton time and finished just ahead of teammate Bailey Biwer, who met the B cut with his time of 49.73. In the women's 100-yard butterfly, Gustavus rookie Kathleen Reilly edged St. Olaf's Claire Walters and St. Thomas' Courtney Grunewald for the title. Reilly finished with a B cut time of 57.17, Walters also met the B cut at 57.23, and Grunewald finished in 57.55.
In the 200-yard freestyle, St. Olaf's Maddie Lee won her second-straight title, while Gustavus' Zac Solis won the men's race to grab his second title of 2015. Lee met the B cut with her winning time of 1:52.63, as did runner-up Michelle Campeau of Gustavus (1:52.85). Solis won in 1:41.18 a night after winning the 500-yard freestyle title, with Carleton's Evan Harris (1:42.88) finishing second.
St. Olaf duo Erik Money and Nick Wilkerson dueled it out for the men's 100-breast title, with Money edging his teammate in one of the fastest heats of the night. Money finished with a 2014 selection time of 56.07, Wilkerson met the B cut in 57.10 and, in all, the top five finishers all met at least the B cut in the event.
It was a St. Thomas sweep in the 100-yard backstroke as Emma Paulson and Tom Osmolak swept the titles. Paulson had a 2014 selection time of 55.33, and Osmolak's winning time was 51.69. It was Paulson's second win of the weekend, as she was also victorious in Thursday's 50-free. In the women's race, Carleton's Maria Wetzel met the B cut with her runner-up finish of 57.54, and Saint John's Jose Alvarez and defending champion Michael Gratz finished 2-3 in the men's race.
Friday evening's session concluded with the 800-meter freestyle relay. Despite being such a long event, the women's race was exceptionally close, as Gustavus (7:39.47) surged ahead late to beat St. Olaf (7:41.65) with both meeting the NCAA B cut, and Carleton (7:55.35) finished third. The Tommies impressed in the men's race, as St. Thomas met the 2014 selection time and won by nearly 11 seconds with a time of 6:46.19. Gustavus (6:57.18) and Carleton (7:02.33) were second and third, respectively.
The MIAC's reigning Women's Diver-of-the-Year continued her run of success as St. Catherine's Jenna Nagy claimed the 3-meter diving title Friday night. Nagy scored 446.70 points to win by more than 15 points and her score met the NCAA Diving Zone cut. Tommie teammates Casey Nightengale (431.15) and Katherine Becker (429.40) were separated by less than two points in second and third, respectively, and both of their scores also met the NCAA Zone cut.
Following each of Friday evening's races, a short awards ceremony was held to honor the top eight finishers. The top three finishers in each event received medals and automatically earn All-Conference honors. Thursday's All-Conference honorees are listed below.
The meet will conclude with two more sessions Saturday. The morning sessions will begin at 10:30 a.m. (doors at 9 p.m.) and will feature preliminary races. Saturday's championship doors will open at 3 p.m. for preliminary heats of the 1,650-yard freestyle and diving.
Carleton Men
Following the second day of racing at the MIAC championships, the Carleton College men’s swimming and diving team defended their admirable third-place standing. The Friday night session featured five all-conference finishes, and Stephen Grinich (Jr./McMinnville, Ore./McMinnville) played a role in breaking a pair of school records.
The Knights started day two of the MIAC championships with a close victory in the 200-yard medley relay. Jonathan Brodie (Jr./Fremont, Calif./Washington), Evan Harris (Sr./Lexington, S.C./Lexington), Grinich and Evan Lahr (So./Monticello, Minn./Monticello) combined on a season best time of 1:32.47, winning by a margin of 0.23 seconds over St. Olaf. The Knights broke the school record for the event and earned All-MIAC honors for their efforts.
In the first individual race of the night, Alex Mathson (So./Verona, Wis./Verona) snagged a third-place finish in the 400 IM with a time of 4:09.90, earning All-MIAC recognition in the race. His time in the finals was only 0.01 second off his new personal-best established during the morning prelim swim. After setting a lifetime best of his own at 4:31.44, Andrew Cely (Sr./Plano, Texas/Plano) finished 16th in the event.
Grinich continued his commendable performance at the MIAC Championships with a third-place result in the 100-yard butterfly. He set the school record with a time of 50.85 during the prelims, then bettered that significantly during the finals as he touched at 50.25, garnering All-MIAC honors in the competition. Colin Lau (Fy./Minnetonka, Minn./Hopkins) secured a ninth-place finish in the event with a new PR of 52.66. Jonathan Brodie came in 14th, finishing at a career best of 54.99.
With Harris’ second-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle, the Knights added yet another All-MIAC performance to their slew of accomplishments. In the event, Harris posted a new personal-best time of 1:42.88 during the prelims and matched it exactly during the evening session, moving him into fourth in team history. Wilson Josephson (Jr./Mount Hermon, Mass./Northfield Mount Hermon) took sixth in the competition, touching at 1:44.31. He was even faster during the prelims (1:44.00) and now ranks eighth in team history. Evan Lahr finished in 10th place in the race with a season-best time of 1:44.87. Eli Danson (Sr./Wausau, Wis./Wausau East) recorded a 12th place finish at a new personal-best time of 1:45.37.
In the 100-yard breaststroke, Noah Brackenbury (Fy./Cincinnati, Ohio/Indian Hill) finished in 12th place, reaching the wall at 1:01.02. Grant Terrien (So./Bloomington, Minn./John F Kennedy School) finished directly behind Brackenbury, posting a time of 1:01.27. Both racers established season-best times of 1:00.30 and 1:00.47, respectively, during the morning swim.
Brodie notched a seventh-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke at 53.29. Aaron Schwab (So./Elk River, Minn./Elk River) came in eighth place, touching at a season best time of 54.13. Competing in the consolation heat, Silas Taylor (Jr./Berkeley Heights, N.J./Pingry School) finished in 11th place at a new PR of 53.82, just outside the Carleton top-10 for the event.
The Knights concluded day two of the MIAC championships with an All-MIAC performance in the 800-yard freestyle relay. Josephson, Mathson, Danson, and Harris joined on a season best time of 7:02.33, finishing third in the event.
Carleton now has 340 teams points, behind only St. Thomas and St. Olaf in the standings.
Carleton Women
After two days of competition at the MIAC Championships, the Carleton College women’s swimming and diving team maintains its fourth-place ranking. In the evening session, sophomore standout Maria Wetzel (Salem, Ore./West Salem) led the Knights to both individual and relay All-MIAC performances.
The evening session began with the 200-yard medley relay. Allie Clark (So./Northfield, Minn./Northfield), Alison Coogan (Sr./River Forest, Ill./Oak Park-River Forest), Kat Nguyen (Fy./Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto), and Alex Guy (Sr./Denver Colo./Denver School of the Arts) joined on a season-best time of 1:50.68 to finish in fifth place in the event.
The competition then moved to individual races, starting with the 400 IM. Coogan finished in seventh place in the event, posting a time of 4:44.66. That came on the heels of a new personal-best mark of 4:44.25 during the preliminary round.
Halie Langanki (Jr./Lino Lakes, Minn./Mounds View) shaved nearly four seconds off her prelim time and took 11th in the event with a season-best time of 4:47.36.
In the 100 yard butterfly, Alex Braiedy (So./Chanhassen, Minn./Minnetonka) notched a lifetime best of 59.44 during the morning swim, ranking her fifth in team history. She came back at night to secure 10th place at the conference meet by finishing at 1:00.30.
Next, in the 200-yard freestyle, Brittany Salazar (Jr./San Francisco, Calif./San Francisco Waldorf) finished in ninth place, Halie Langanki (Jr./Lino Lakes, Minn./Mounds View) took 14th, and Lexi Shin (Fy./Rochester, Minn./Century) finished 15th. They each posted new personal-best times on the day at 1:57.10, 2:01.40, and 2:02.27, respectively.
Lauren Hoff (Fy./Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer) finished in 15th place in the 100-yard breaststroke, touching at a new PR of 1:11.14 during the prelims.
The high point of the night came in Maria Wetzel’s All-MIAC performance in the 100-yard backstroke. She clocked a new personal-best and “B” cut time of 57.54 during the prelims, then matched it exactly during the finals to claim second place. That also moved her into second place in team history. Coogan finished in seventh place in the event after registering a career-best time of 59.51 during the morning. Clark recorded an eighth-place result, touching at a time of 1:01.30. Chloe Rouhandeh (So./New York, N.Y./Dalton School) also scored for Carleton when she finished 16th in the event and posted a lifetime best of 1:02.87.
Competition concluded on Friday night with a strong finish in the 800-yard freestyle relay. Alex Braiedy, Brittany Salazar, Maria Wetzel, and Lexi Shin combined on a season-best time of 7:55.35 to finish in third place, earning the quartet All-MIAC recognition.
With a score of 254 points, the Knights trail Gustavus Adolphus College, University of Saint Thomas, and St. Olaf College in the eight-team competition.
