The Golden Gophers wrapped the 2016 Minnesota Challenge on Saturday night. After three sessions, the Maroon and Gold tallied 35 personal records. The meet served as the season-end event for those not attending the Big Ten Championships, while others used the meet to tune up for the championships season. Notably, Matt Barnard broke the school record on the men’s 3-meter springboard for the second time this year after totaling 450.95 points.
Minnesota Men
In addition to Barnard’s record-breaking finish of 450.95 points, seniors Manny Pollard and Dylan Zoe also recorded personal records on the 3-meter springboard with scores of 436.15 and 419.35 respectively. Alan LeBlang (341.65) was fourth, while Daniel Monaghan (302.50) picked up fifth to secure the Gophers claim of the top five scores.
John Bushman lowered his 400 IM time to a 3:50.08 to take the gold, finishing over 23 seconds faster than the rest of the field.
Sophomore Chase Bublitz notched a personal record in the 100 fly with a 48.32 to secure the win. Bryce Boston followed silver with a 49.49.
Rookies Brian Poon (1:39.97) and James Tidd (1:40.54) turned in personal records in the 200 free to secure the top two finishes. Bublitz picked up third, while Jan Hansen finished fifth.
Conner McHugh claimed gold in the 100 breast with a time of 55.88. Rookie Brenner Hohenstein followed for silver with a personal record of 56.36.
Erik Hunter won the 100 back with a 50.34. Jack Tribble (50.56) and Peter Lefebvre (51.67) earned second and third, while Calvin Greve had a personal record of 52.60 for fifth.
Junior Tribble earned first in the 200 back with a time of 1:50.72. Hunter (1:50.82) and Lefebvre (1:52.34) followed, recording personal bests.
Tidd won the 100 free, recording a new personal record of 44.82. Bublitz followed for silver (45.30), while Boston finished fourth.
Hohenstein dropped nearly seven seconds to win the 200 breast with best time of 2:00.70.
Minnesota Women
Minnesota kicked off Saturday sweeping gold, silver and bronze in the 200 medley relay. The team of Dani Bergeson, Nicki Ciavarella, Zoe Avestruz and Abigail Raatz had the top finish with a time of 1:44.66.
Senior Lauren Votava won the 100 fly with a time of 56.09. Votava was followed by teammate Kaia Grobe (56.79).
Rookie Erin Buck won the 200 free with a collegiate best time of 1:50.54. Raatz, Avestruz and Holmquist followed for a 1-2-3-4 Minnesota finish.
Freshman Elisa Burgstahler had a gold finish in the 100 breast after recording a season best of 1:06.43. Bergeson followed closely for second with a 1:06.47, while Aislin Rose finished third (1:08.14).
Lexi Tenenbaum won the 1-meter competition with a score of 314.25. Teammates Mariam Khamis (285.95) and Jessica Ramberg (277.85) collected silver and bronze for a Minnesota 1-2-3 finish.
Rookie Erin Buck earned her second first-place finish after recording another personal record in the 200 back (2:00.07).
Burgstahler notched another personal best in the 200 breast with a 2:26.61 for second place. Theresa Bushman followed for third (2:27.00).
The Gopher women’s team will travel to Michigan for the 2016 Big Ten Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships from Wednesday, Feb. 17 through Saturday, Feb. 20. The men’s B1G Championships will follow the week after, Feb. 24-27 at Purdue.
South Dakota
South Dakota’s diving teams and several members of the women’s swimming team competed at the Minnesota Challenge Friday and Saturday at the University Aquatic Center. The challenge included 18 teams.
The Coyotes recorded 20 top-10 finishes, led by sophomore Julia Gorham who recorded three top-five finishes including an event title in the 200-yard butterfly with a final time of 2:10.16. Gorham also finished third in the 400-yard individual medley and fourth in the 200-yard individual medley with times of 4:41.59 and 2:12.70, respectively.
South Dakota placed fifth and seventh in freestyle relays. The team of sophomores Kellee Lekavy, Kathleen Juffer, Natalie Buelte and senior Kaitlin Goff placed fifth in the 400-yard freestyle relay and clocked in at 3:40.58. Sophomore Haley Hannah joined Juffer, Goff and Buelte to place seventh in the 200-yard freestyle and had a final time of 1:39.81.
Buelte, Lekavy, Juffer and Hannah also recorded two top-10 individual finishes apiece for the Coyotes.
For the diving portion, junior Greysen Hertting placed fourth in the three-meter dive with 271.45 and was fifth in the one-meter dive with 269.20. The only divers to score higher than Hertting were from the Minnesota Team.
Freshman Sarah Schank recorded a top-10 finish in the three-meter dive and placed sixth while scoring 238.20.
In the men’s three-meter dive, sophomore Brady Saunders placed sixth with 289.60 and senior Chase Testa was right behind him in seventh with 281.40. Testa was the Coyotes top finisher in the one-meter dive and scored 256.00 and placed ninth.
The Coyotes return to the pool Feb. 17-20 for the Summit League Championships at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis, Ind.
Carleton Men
Wilson Josephson (Mount Hermon, Mass./Northfield Mount Hermon) turned in the top individual performance for the Carleton College men’s swimming and diving team on day two of the Minnesota Challenge. The senior was second overall in the 200-yard butterfly with his season-best mark of 1:57.57.
The Minnesota Challenge, held at the U of Minnesota Aquatics Center, offers Carleton the chance to race against a competitive field that includes some of the top MIAC programs, Division II program St. Cloud State, as well as a handful of Division I teams: University of Minnesota, South Dakota, South Dakota State, and North Dakota. The weekend serves as the final taper meet for those team members that are not competing at the upcoming MIAC Championships, while for the remainder of the squad this is a final tune-up before the conference meet on Feb. 18-20.
Saturday’s schedule was broken up into two sessions. The early one began with a fifth-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay. Karl Schwarzkopf (Fy./Minneapolis, Minn./Minneapolis Southwest), Noah Brackenbury (So./Cincinnati, Ohio/Indian Hill), Stephen Grinich (Sr./McMinnville, Ore./McMinnville), and George McAneny (Sr./Santa Cruz, Calif./Santa Cruz) combined on a time of 1:36.18.
Alex Mathson (Jr./Verona, Wis./Verona) finished ninth in the 400-yard IM and was the top MIAC performer, touching the wall at 4:18.37. Grinich was fourth overall in the 100-yard butterfly, clocking a time of 51.17, while Colin Lau (So./Minnetonka, Minn./Hopkins) registered a 12th-place result in the same event, establishing a new personal-record time of 53.35.
Josephson was 10th overall and third among D-III racers in the 200-yard freestyle with his season-best time of 1:46.19. Tiernan Foster-Smith (Fy./Minneapolis, Minn./The Blake School) placed 15th in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:00.36
During the evening session, Grinich, McAneny, and Schwarzkopf placed 9th, 10th, and 12th, respectively, in the 100-yard freestyle. The trio posted season-best times of 47.50, 47.51, and 48.04.
Mathson was fifth overall in the 200-yard breaststroke with a career-best time of 2:11.32. Josephson turned in his second-place result in the next event, the 200-yard butterfly.
Carleton will now turn its full attention to the MIAC Championships on Feb. 18-20. That meet will once again be held at the University of Minnesota Aquatics Center.
Carleton Women
Maria Wetzel (Jr./Salem, Ore./West Salem) turned in two of the five top-10 results for the Carleton College women’s swimming and diving team on day two of the Minnesota Challenge. Wetzel placed eighth in the 200-yard freestyle and was the runner-up in the 200-yard backstroke.
The Minnesota Challenge, a two-day competition held at the University of Minnesota Aquatics Center, serves as the final taper meet for those team members that are not competing at the upcoming MIAC Championships, while for the remainder of the squad this is a final tune-up before the conference meet.
The Knights challenged themselves against several competitive teams, including some of the top MIAC programs, UW-Stevens Point, St. Cloud State—a NCAA Division II program—as well as a handful of Division I teams: University of Minnesota, South Dakota, South Dakota State, and North Dakota.
Saturday’s events were split up into two sessions. In the early session, Halie Langanki (Sr./Lino Lakes, Minn./Mounds View), Allie Clark (Jr./Northfield, Minn./Northfield), and Lexi Shin (So./Rochester, Minn./Century) finished 13th, 14th, and 15th, respectively in the 400-yard IM, with Shin’s time of 4:58.73 representing a new personal best.
Wetzel and Alex Braiedy (Jr./Chanhassen, Minn./Minnetonka) finished eighth and 12th overall, respectively, in the 200-yard freestyle. The duo turned in the top two times by D-III swimmers in the event as both clocked new personal-best times. Wetzel covered the distance in 1:56.69, and Braiedy finished at 1:57.63.
In the evening session, Shin placed eighth in the 1650-yard freestyle at 19:01.39. Wetzel then took second overall in the 200-yard backstroke and was the lone Division III swimmer in the top 10. She clocked a time of 2:04.50.
Caroline Mather (Fy./Highlands Ranch, Colo./Mountain Vista) placed ninth overall in the 100-yard freestyle, touching the wall at 53.93. Langanki was fourth overall and the top D-III competitor in the 200-yard butterfly as she completed the race in personal-best 2:15.81.
Carleton will now turn its full attention to the MIAC Championships on Feb. 18-20. That meet will once again be held at the University of Minnesota Aquatics Center.
St. Olaf Women
The St. Olaf women's swimming and diving team competed in the Minnesota Challenge on Saturday at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center. The meet served as a tune up for our athletes as they begin to taper for the MIAC Championships in two weeks.
Courtney Miller placed 10th in the 1 mtr dive.
The 200 yard medley team made up of Abbey Schnaith,Megan Gaylord, Claire Walters and Maddie Lee placed fifth behind three Minnesota teams and a UND team with a time of 1:50.72.
Claire Walters was fifth in the 50 yard Free and Abbey Schnaith was 12th.
Megan Gaylord was sixth in the 100 yard Breaststroke.
Maddie Lee was fourth in the 100 yard Free - the highest finish of any MIAC Athlete.
Claire Walters was also 16th in the 200 Free.
Kalyn Dorheim was 15th in 100 back - highest of any MIAC Athlete
First-year Erin Martin finished 11th in the 200 fly.
St. Olaf Men
Individual highlights on the men's side included:
Scott Hodgson placing 10th in the 3 meter.
The 200 yard medley relay team including Abe Casey, Gus Reynolds, Jack Welsh, and Andrew France placed ninth with a time of 1:38.26.
Junior Andrew France finished 14th in the 200 IM.
First-year Jack Welsh finished 15th in the 100 Fly.
The Oles will compete next at the Carleton Invite on Tuesday at 4 p.m. in Northfield.
