STEVENS POINT, Wis. – The Gustavus women’s swimming and diving team finished second at the two-day UW-Stevens Point Invite on Jan. 23 and 24, totaling 1081 points. The Gusties finished behind UW-La Crosse (1479 points), and ahead of the Pointers (617 points). UW-Eau Claire’s Bluegolds racked up 39 points while solely participating in the diving competition.
The finals session on Saturday evening started out strong with the Gustie’s A and B 200 medley relays taking third and fourth with times of 1:54.63 and 1:55.50. Annika Beck (Fy., Stillwater, Minn.), dominated to a first place finish in the 1650 freestyle (18:27.64) and took second in the 400 IM with a time of 4:52.59.
Leah Felton (Fy., Lakewood, Colo.) and Geneva Fackler (So., Plymouth, Minn.) swept the one-two spots in the 200 free with times of 1:59.73 and 2:00.70, respectively. Gusties represented five of the eight championship final competitors, scoring 74 points in the event’s heat.
Madison Witte (Jr., Glencoe, Minn.) was the top Gustie in the 100 butterfly, finishing third overall in a time of 1:01.67, while Hadley Wartner (Jr., Minneapolis, Minn.) led the Gusties to a sixth place finish in the 100 breaststroke (1:13.95).
Teresa Gatti (So., St. Paul, Minn.) took fourth in the 200 backstroke with a 2:16.45, while Felton took fourth in the 50 freestyle with a 25.38, in a tight field.
On the boards, Gabriella Stoudt (Sr., Maple Plain, Minn.) took second on the 3-meter board with a 383.10.
To wrap up the weekend, the Gusties once again took second and third in the 400 freestyle relay, with times of 3:41.94 and 3:44.51, respectively.
When asked about hopeful takeaways for the Gustie swimmers, as the team heads into the end of their season, Head Swimming & Diving Coach Jon Carlson responded, “It is a great meet for us because we are at a tough point in our training and you really have to swim with a lot of toughness if you are going to swim fast. The team did a good job of accepting that challenge and we had a great weekend. Lots of great swims and lots of great learning as well.”
Looking forward to championship season, the Gusties will host Gustie Challenge next weekend, Jan. 30 and Jan 31.
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