CSCAA Scholar All-America Teams | CSCAA Scholar All-America Individuals
PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa. — The College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) announced its individual Scholar All-America teams Thursday, July 3, and two Gustavus swimmers earned recognition.
To qualify for First-Team Scholar All-America, student-athletes must have earned a GPA of 3.5 or higher and participated in their national championship. Second-team selections, must have also earned a 3.5 GPA or higher and met a “B” time standard for the national championship or qualified for a diving zone qualification meet.
The two Gusties that qualified were sophomore Braden Ripken (Blaine, Minn./Spring Lake Park) and fifth-year Peyton Richardson (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge). Gustavus was one of three men’s teams with individuals recognized, joining Carleton and Saint John’s divers Hans Anderson and Cody Watts.
Ripken, a financial economics, history and sport management triple major, was the Gusties’ sole qualifier at this year’s NCAA Championship. Ripken, traditionally a freestyler, qualified for the meet with his time in the 100 breaststroke. He took 26th in the 100 breaststroke prelims, 46th in the 50 freestyle and 25th in the 200 breaststroke. Ripken won the 100 breaststroke at the MIAC Championships on Feb. 19 with an NCAA B cut time of 54.46.
Ripken was a five-time All-Conference selection following his performance at the conference meet, adding a third place finish in the 50 freestyle (20.95) to his title in the 100 breaststroke. He also swam as a part of three All-MIAC relay teams, taking first in the 400 medley and second in both the 200 and 800 freestyle relays. He finished as Honorable Mention All-MIAC in the 100 freestyle with a time of 46.64. He earned his first Academic All-MIAC honor earlier this summer and was also named to the CSC Academic All-District team.
Richardson earned his third consecutive selection as a biology major in his final season of collegiate swim. He defended his MIAC Swimmer of the Year title with three event victories at the championship meet, sharing the honor with Saint John’s freestyler Brayden Slavik, as both won all three of their individual events. Richardson took first in the 200 IM with a time of 1:50.99, 0.74 off an NCAA B cut time. He was the only athlete to swim a sub-50 in the 100 butterfly, taking first with a 48.78, 0.15 seconds from the B cut mark. He was also first in the 200 of the same stroke, cutting his own prelims time by three seconds for a 1:51.87. Richardson additionally swam on three All-MIAC relay teams, taking first as a part of the 200 medley and 400 medley squads, as well as a second place finish in the 800 freestyle relay.
Richardson finished his MIAC career as one of the most decorated swimmers in Gustavus history, winning a total of 10 Athlete of the Week awards, six of which came in his final season. Richardson was a three-time MIAC Champion in all of the same individual events at last season’s MIAC meet and collected nine individual conference titles through his career. He has been a part of 12 first place relay teams at the conference meet and has been awarded 24 All-Conference honors as a Gustie. He owns the school records in the 100 butterfly (48.78), 200 IM (1:50.35), and was a part of the 200 medley and 400 medley teams that broke the school and MIAC records. He was named to his fourth Academic All-MIAC team on June 26 and was a member of this season’s CSC Academic All-District team.
The Gustavus men’s swimming & diving team was also named CSCAA Scholar All-America, recognized for maintaining a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.0 during the semester. The Gustie men posted a GPA of 3.50 with the most rostered athletes of any school in the MIAC and fifth-most in Division III.
The Gustavus men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams made history in 2024-25, as both teams repeated as MIAC Championships for the first time. The title was the sixth consecutive for the men’s program and the 27th in program history, while the women collected their first back-to-back titles since the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons. The Gusties swept the conference Swimmer and Rookie of the Year Awards, while Ripken was the sole qualifier to the national meet for both teams.
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