MIAC Men's Race
There was a serious feeling of déjà vu at Saturday's sixth and final session of the 2016 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Men's Swimming and Diving Championships at the University of Minnesota's Aquatic Center. For the second-straight season, the University of St. Thomas ran away with the team championships, with Mike Lanz and Andrew Grabowski earning Swimmer- and Diver-of-the-Year honors again, respectively.
Lanz actually won the conference's top swimming honor for the third-straight season to fittingly close his tremendous career on the MIAC's biggest stage. He cemented his latest award Saturday by winning his third-straight 200-yard butterfly title with a 'B' cut time of 1:50.76. Lanz also won the 100-fly for the third season in a row Friday with a new meet record time, and he captured his second-straight 200-yard individual medley championship Thursday. Lanz also helped the Tommies win the 400- and 800-yard freestyle relay and the 400-yard medley relay.
Grabowski is off to a perfect start in his young career, as the sophomore has now won the conference's top diving honor in each of his first two seasons. The Tommie diver successfully defending his 3-meter MIAC title Saturday with an NCAA Zone selection score of 472.00. This time around, he swept the titles on both boards, as he won the 1-meter championship on Thursday. Grabowksi's scores on both boards met the NCAA Diving Zone selection standard.
Those two individuals helped fuel a downright dominant performance by the Tommies from start to finish as they captured their second-straight conference title, and fourth since 2009. Overall, UST has now won 13 MIAC men's championships. The Tommie women also won their first MIAC Swimming and Diving championship Saturday night to help UST join St. Olaf and Gustavus as the only MIAC schools to win both men's and women's titles in the same year. The last to accomplish that feat was the Gusties in 2008.
St. Thomas nearly lapped the field en route to the championship with a total score of 883.5. Saint John's led a spirited battle for second place with 495 points, as teams ranked 2-5 all scored at least 442 points. St. Olaf was third with a total of 474.5, Gustavus surged into fourth with 468 points and Carleton rounded out the top five with a score of 442. Hamline finished sixth with 192 points, Macalester's score of 142 was good for seventh, and Saint Mary's rounded out the men's final standings with 92 points.
Saint John's Head Coach Bill Saxton was honored by his peers for his work to guide the Johnnies to their second-place finish. The SJU head coach was voted the 2016 MIAC Men's Swimming Coach-of-the-Year. St. Olaf and Carleton Diving Coach Gabe Korteum was voted the 2016 MIAC Diving Coach-of-the-Year for his work with Hodgson, Jorgensen and Women's Diver-of-the-Year Courtney Miller.
Saturday's final session saw the Tommies get off to a great start in the night's opening events, as Warren Melton won his third title of the weekend with a victorious time of 16:04.38 in the men's 1,650-yard freestyle. His winning time was an NCAA 'B' cut, and he added the mile title to his wins in the 200- and 500-freestyle. St. Olaf's Bobby Schultze also met the 'B' cut in the mile with his runner-up time of 16:12.31, and Hamline's Hodd Gorman added another All-MIAC finish to his impressive weekend with a time of 16:18.51 in third place.
Grabowski's win on the 3-meter board came from one of the more memorable duels of Saturday's final session. He narrowly defeated St. Olaf senior Scott Hodgson, who also met the NCAA Zone mark with his score of 459.90 to conclude his stellar MIAC career. Another Ole, rookie Leif Jorgensen, finished third with a score of 367.95.
St. Thomas' success continued with two of the top three in the 200-yard backstroke. Tom Osmolak successfully defended his title in the event and added the 2016 200-back title to his repeat win in the 100-back from Friday. Osmolak's time of 1:48.22 met the 2015 selection standard, and Carleton's Karl Schwarzkopf also met the 'B' cut with a time of 1:51.61. Brady Anderson from St. Thomas was third with a time of 1:53.01.
For drama, it doesn't get much better than Saturday's 100-yard freestyle final. Saint John's Kenny Bergman successfully defended his title in the event in one of the closest races of the weekend, as just 0.03 seconds separated the top three. Bergman touched the wall to win in 46.06, teammate Paul Knaak was literally right behind at 46.07, and Carleton star Stephen Grinich was a close third with a time of 46.09.
The 200-yard breaststroke was highly entertaining as well, with a trio of 'B' cut times atop the leader board. Gustavus freshman Tanner Sonnek unseated two-time defending champion Nick Wilkerson in dramatic fashion, 2:04.06 to 2:04.28, with a pair of 'B' cut times. St. Thomas' Maxwell Hamliton also met the 'B' standard in third at 2:05.49.
Lanz's final individual win at the MIAC meet led a St. Thomas championship statement with three Tommies in the top three. In addition to his three-peat and 'B' cut time, teammate Chris Tri also met the 'B' cut in second with a time of 1:53.36, and fellow UST swimmer Brady Anderson finished third with a time of 1:55.17.
The final event of the night saw one last great finish from St. Thomas and Lanz, as the Tommies and Carleton engaged in an epic duel in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Lanz anchored the UST team and surged ahead in the final 50 yards to give the Tommies the win and a 'B' cut time of 3:03.76. Carleton's time of 3:04.09 also met the 'B' cut, and Saint John's was third with a time of 3:06.64.
MIAC Women's Race
Saturday was a historic night for the University of St. Thomas women's swimming and diving team as the Tommies captured their first-ever Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) championship. UST dethroned six-times defending champion Gustavus Adolphus College by pulling away over the final two days at the 2016 MIAC Swimming and Diving Championships at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center.
St. Thomas' conference title makes the Tommies the sixth program to capture the MIAC crown, joining the ranks of the Gusties, St. Olaf, Hamline, Carleton and Saint Benedict. The St. Thomas men also won their second-straight MIAC Swimming and Diving championship Saturday night to help UST join St. Olaf and Gustavus as the only MIAC schools to win both men's and women's titles in the same year. The last to accomplish that feat was the Gusties in 2008.
Things got closer early in Saturday's session, but ultimately St. Thomas pulled away with a final score of 873.5 to 693 for Gustavus. St. Olaf earned a third-place finish with a total of 485.5 with cross-town rival Carleton next in fourth at 389. Saint Benedict scored 389 to edge St. Catherine's score of 326 to give the Blazers the final spot in the top five. Macalester scored 182 in seventh, Concordia moved up into eighth with 143 points, just three ahead of Hamline (140). Saint Mary's also moved up on the final day to finish with 130 points, with Augsburg's 121 points rounding out the final standings.
St. Thomas junior Emma Paulson starred throughout the meet, and was named the MIAC Swimmer-of-the-Year for her individual brilliance and her role in UST's title. Paulson finished off her individual honor Saturday with her second-straight MIAC title in the 200-yard backstroke with a 2015 NCAA selection time of 1:59.72. She also set a new MIAC record while winning her second-straight 100-yard backstroke title Friday, and Thursday she added another repeat victory in the 50-yard freestyle. Paulson also helped the UST 800-freestyle relay team win with a new MIAC record time, she swam on the first-place 400-yard medley relay and 400-yard freestyle relay team, as well as the second-place 200-freestyle relay team.
Just like in the team competition, there was a changing of the guard on the women's diving board as well, as St. Olaf's Courtney Miller was named MIAC Diver-of-the-Year for her outstanding performance throughout the meet. Miller finished off her diving honor Saturday on the 1-meter board with 427.85 points to meet the NCAA Zone cut and sweep the 2016 MIAC diving titles on both boards. Saturday's win came on the heels of her MIAC title on the 3-meter board Friday, where she scored 427.65 to meet the NCAA Zone Diving qualification mark. Miller unseated two-time MIAC Diver-of-the-Year Jenna Nagy of St. Catherine, who finished second behind Miller on both boards. Nagy also met the NCAA Zone mark Saturday on the 1-meter board (401.20) and Saint Benedict's Carissa Gaffy-Sanford was third.
With the Tommies and Oles earning the top student-athlete honors, it was only fitting that their coaches received accolades as well. St. Thomas' Scott Blanchard was voted the MIAC Women's Swimming Coach-of-the-Year for the second season in a row for his role in the Tommies' first ever team title. Miller's diving coach, Gabe Korteum, was named the MIAC Diving Coach-of-the-Year for his role in her success, as well as All-Conference men's diver Scott Hodgson and Leif Jorgensen.
The 1,650-yard freestyle gave both Gustavus and Concordia fans reason to cheer right off the bat Saturday. A pair of breakout rookies from Gustavus - Linnea Rizzo and Sydney Hallmark - finished 1-2 in the mile, with Rizzo (17:43.27) besting her teammate Hallmark (17:46.37) by three seconds. Junior Annie Herkenhoff delivered one of the Cobbers' top highlights of the MIAC meet as she recorded the third-best time of 17:47.98 to also earn All-MIAC honors.
Paulson's win in the 200-back highlighted one of the most impressive heats of the 2016 championships, with three of the meets biggest stars all recording outstanding times. Paulson met the 2015 NCAA selection time, while Carleton's Maria Wetzel (2:02.87) and Gustavus' Hayley Booher (2:03.85) both recorded NCAA 'B' cut times.
Gustavus sophomore Kathleen Reilly barely edged St. Olaf senior Maddie Lee in the 100-yard freestyle in a showdown of previous 2016 winners. Reilly's winning time of 51.49 met the 2015 selection cut, while Lee's time of 52.00 was a 'B' cut swim. Carleton rookie Caroline Mather finished third with a time of 52.35.
St. Thomas really stated its case for the team title with a dominant performance in the 200-yard breaststroke. The Tommies swept the top three spots, led by Nicole Herrli's time of 2:22.34, which was good for first place and an NCAA 'B' cut. UST rookie Melissa Rose was second with a time of 2:26.26, and sophomore Katelyn Washenberger finished third with her time of 2:26.73. UST had four of the top five, and five of the top eight.
Tommie rookie Katelyn Strauss added to her team's total with a 'B' cut and winning time of 2:06.78 in the 200-yard butterfly. St. Catherine first-year swimmer delivered one of the Wildcats' top highlights of the meet with a second-place finish in 2:13.94, and Carleton senior Halie Langanki finished third with a time of 2:14.30.
St. Thomas and Gustavus took their duel down to the final event with impressive performances in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The Tommies won with a time of 3:32.02, with Gustavus less than a half-second behind UST with a time of 3:28.47. Both times met the 2015 NCAA selection standard. St. Olaf finished third with a time of 3:31.49 to also earn All-MIAC honors in the meet's final race.
Fans can re-live all the action from an incredible three days via the 2016 MIAC Swimming & Diving Championships home page (http://www.miacathletics.com/playoffs/2015-16/S-Dchampionships2016).
Story Courtesy of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
