Saint John's swimming and diving returns to the Twin Cities for two meets this weekend, beginning with the Hamline Invitational at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 23, in St. Paul. SJU competes at the Augsburg Invitational at noon Sunday, Oct. 24, at the University of Minnesota Jean Freeman Aquatic Center in Minneapolis.

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's started its 2021-22 season with a head-to-head win over Hamline at the St. Catherine Pentathlon last Saturday (Oct. 16) in St. Paul. Each swimmer competed in a 100-yard version of each of the five strokes: backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, freestyle and individual medley. 

Freshman Colby Kern (Delano, Minn.) edged junior Ethan Huber (Mitchell, S.D.), 135-134, to lead the team in points. Sophomore Alex Heer (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) was close behind in a tie for fourth (132) and junior Jack Mehus (Fargo, N.D./South) was sixth (131). 

Junior Joe Koller (Savage, Minn./Shakopee) won the backstroke (55.58) and freshman Carter Larson (Sartell, Minn./Sartell-St. Stephen) touched the wall first in the freestyle (48.89).

Kern led SJU with a second-place finish in the butterfly (55.38), while Mehus took second in both the breaststroke (1:04.43) and individual medley (56.95).

MIAC ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Kern was named the MIAC Men's Swimming and Diving Athlete of the Week on Tuesday (Oct. 19) for his season-opening performance at St. Kate's. In addition to his second-place finish in the butterfly, Kern claimed fourth in the freestyle (50.56), fifth in the breaststroke (1:05.48), eighth in the individual medley (58.77) and 11th in the backstroke (1:00.79).

WHO WILL BE AT HAMLINE: Although the title of the event is an invitational, the men's side is schedule to only field the Johnnies and host Pipers.

TWO YEARS AGO: The Johnnies won at the three-team Hamline Invitational the last time it was held on Oct. 26, 2019. SJU won nine of the 13 events and recorded 23 top-three finishes on the afternoon for a total of 554 points. The host Pipers took second (305) and Saint Mary's followed in third (132).

A pair of Johnnies won two individual events. Mitchell Dockendorf '20 claimed first in the 200-yard individual medley (2:04.16) and 500-yard freestyle (5:09.57), while senior Steven Froehle (DuPont, Wash./Steilacoom) won both the 50- (22.29) and 100-yard (49.40) freestyles.

Friedrich Odermann '20 touched the wall first in the 100-yard butterfly (55.55) and the Johnnies' 200-yard freestyle relay (Dockendorf, Ethan Huber, Beau Brinkman, Froehle) took first in 1:29.88. The 200-yard medley relay (Spencer Atkinson, Eli Greenblat, Odermann, Tim Belov) placed second (1:43.06).

Four Johnnies, led by junior Jack Grabinski (Sauk Rapids, Minn./Sauk Rapids-Rice), were uncontested in the two dives.

SUNDAY IN MINNEAPOLIS: SJU is scheduled to be joined by Carleton, Carthage (Wis.) and St. Olaf Sunday at the University of Minnesota.