STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The Gustavus men’s swimming and diving team finished second at the two-day UW-Stevens Point Invite on Jan. 23 and 24, totaling 1049 points. The Gusties finished behind UW-La Crosse (1144.5 points), and ahead of the Pointers (946.5 points). UW-Eau Claire’s Bluegolds racked up 67 points while solely participating in the diving competition.
Beginning the final session off strong, the men’s 200 medley relay team of Josh Wallin (So., Albert Lea, Minn.), Braden Ripken (Jr., Blaine, Minn), Aiden Carlson (Jr. Moorhead, Minn.), and Teddy Solensky (Jr., Jamestown, N.D.) won in a time of 1:36.15.
Mason Deitering, continuing his distance dominance from day one, placed first in the 1650 freestyle in 17:18.98.
Aidynn Havermann (Fy., Cottage Grove, Minn.) led the Gusties to a win in the 400 IM (4:19.03) and took second in the 200 backstroke in 2:00.82.
Placing fifth in the 200 freestyle, Aiden Shermak (Jr., Bloomington, Minn.) swam 1:51.00. Carlson led the Gusties in the 100 butterfly to a third place finish (53.99); Gusties represented four of the eight championship final competitors, scoring 54 points in the event’s heat.
Ripken collected a third place finish for the Gusties in the 100 breaststroke, with a time of 58.01. Wallin was the top Gustie in the 50 freestyle, placing fifth with a 22.38; Gustie men took places five through eight in the event.
On the boards, Trevor Johnson (Sr., Eden Prairie, Minn.) placed ninth on the 1-meter board with a 283.89.
To wrap up the weekend, the Gusties took third and fourth in the 400 freestyle relay, with times of 3:16.93 and 3:19.24, respectively.
When asked what makes this year’s team’s atmosphere unique and how it contributes to a championship team environment, Head Swimming & Diving Coach Jon Carlson responded, “this team really came here to have fun. We normally have a couple team meetings throughout the weekend but I didn’t think it was needed this year. I think the team took care of each other and took care of themselves individually and made the most of the weekend when they were in the water. They were swimming hard and when they were out of the water they were having fun with each other and enjoying the experience.”
Looking forward to championship season, the Gusties will host Gustie Challenge next weekend, Jan. 30 and Jan 31.
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