Minnesota Press Release
MINNEAPOLIS - Minnesota closed out the final regular season meet at home. The Gophers hosted multiple schools from around Minnesota: Augsburg, Carleton, Saint Benedict, Concordia, Gustavus, Hamline, Saint Mary’s, St. John’s, St. Olaf and St. Thomas. Iowa Central, Morningside, the College of Saint Mary, South Dakota State, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin-Stevens Point also competed. Wisconsin-Eau Claire brought divers only.
MEN
Minnesota “A” (Noah Busch, Eric Sande, Daryl Turner, James Tidd) started the meet with a 1:31.14 in the 200-yard medley relay, which earned first place.
Nick Saulnier and Nick Hatanaka grabbed the top-two spots in the 400-yard individual medley. In the 100-yard butterfly, Nick Orf (50.26) and Garner Kohrell (51.20) earned the first two spots.
Minnesota earned the top four spots at the meet in the 200-yard freestyle, Tuomas Pokkinen (1:39.28), Bowe Becker (1:40.70), Noah Busch (1:41.29), and Parker Lemke (1:42.62), finishing respectively. Pokkinen’s 1:39.28 was a season best, topping an exhibition time in the dual against North Dakota.
Eric Sande finished first in the 100-yard breaststroke, earning a 56.01. During the 100-yard backstroke, Erik Hunterclaimed a 51.85, which was first place and his season-best time.
Minnesota earned the top four spots in men’s 3-meter diving, Barnard taking first place (434.65). Alan LeBlang (394.90), Lucas Cooperman (323.65), and Jeremy Moser (321.85) followed him, respectively.
On the platform, Minnesota claimed the top four places, Barnard finished first (453.85). LeBlang followed him in second place (308.65), while Cooperman (298.70) and Moser (217.85) finished afterward.
WOMEN
Minnesota opened its meet with a first-place finish in the women’s 200-yard medley relay, where “B,” consisting of Kaia Grobe, Nicki Ciavarella, Tevyn Waddell, and Allison Schumacher, claimed a 1:45.04.
During the 400-yard individual medley, Dani Bergeson earned a first-place 4:30.48. Olivia Johnston followed her in second place with a 4:37.61. In the 100-yard butterfly, Madison Preiss claimed a first-place 58.38.
Danielle Nack (1:50.02) and Tevyn Waddell (1:50.40) earned the top-two spots in the 200-yard freestyle. Waddell’s 1:50.40 was a season best.
In the 100-yard breaststroke, Rachel Munson (1:02.97) and Nicki Ciavarella (1:04.16) claimed the top-two spots. With that time, Munson earned a season best. Following the 100-yard breaststroke, Zoe Avestruz finished first place in the 100-yard backstroke with a 55.88.
Sarah Bacon finished first overall in the women’s 1-meter diving finals, with a 299.60. Yu Zhou grabbed the top spot on the platform (313.05), while Lexi Tenenbaum finished second (289.80).
In the 3-meter diving event, the Gophers swept the top six spots. Zhou finished first (393.95), followed by Tenenbaum (376.45), Bacon (337.05), Elizabeth Etterman (330.70), Marian Khamis (329.70), and Morgan Justus (308.20).
South Dakota Press Release
South Dakota freshman Isaac Morris set a new school record as he won the one-meter dive while senior Erin Kleiner and sophomore Hunter Padgett each claimed a swimming title at the Minnesota Challenge which was hosted by the University of Minnesota in the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center Friday and Saturday. The challenge consisted of 18 schools.
Morris scored 294.55 points on the one-meter to break his school record that he set earlier this year. He placed sixth on the three-meter with a score of 282.30.
Kleiner led the Coyote women as she claimed the 200-yard IM with a final time of two minutes and 11.84 seconds. She added a third-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly after she touched in with 58.99.
Senior Greysen Hertting was the runner-up on the one-meter dive with a score of 257.65. The only person to beat Hertting went to a Power-5 conference as first-place went to Sarah Bacon of Minnesota with a score of 299.60. On the three-meter dive, Hertting scored 247.70 which was good for seventh place.
Junior Taylor Dessler finished second in the 200-yard breast with a time of 2:26.88. Junior Haley Hannah came in third with 2:30.87.
The Coyotes turned in four more third-place finishes. Junior Emily Lundstrom finished with a time of 4:40.41 in the 400-yard IM, freshman Sabrina Sabadeanu had a time of 58.73 in the 100-yard back, junior Cora Ruzicka finished the 200-yard backstroke with 2:10.52 and freshman Payton Nackoney had a time of 2:15.34 in the 200-yard butterfly.
For relays, junior Natalie Buelte, junior Taylor Dessler, junior Kelle Lekavy and Nackoney came in second for the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 3:58.76. Right behind them in third-place was junior Kathleen Juffer, junior Kassidie Cornell, sophomore Hannah Gupton and senior Sam Schutt with 3:58.97. Gupton and Lekavy also combined with sophomore Theresa Godlewski and Sabadeanu for a third-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay with 1:38.97.
On the men’s side, Padgett led the team with his first-place finish in the 100-yard free with a blazing time of 46.69. He added a fifth-place finish in the 50-yard free as he touched in with 21.48.
Freshman Bryce Fehringer added two fifth-place finishes. He was fifth in the 500-yard freestyle and 1,650-yard freestyle with times of 4:45.62 and 16:52.82, respectively.
This was the final meet of the regular season for the Coyotes. South Dakota travels to Indianapolis, Ind., for the Summit League Championships Feb. 15-18.
