Saint John's swimming and diving visits Gustavus Adolphus for a 2 p.m. dual meet this Saturday, Jan. 29, in St. Peter. – Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's suffered a 175-100 loss to Division II St. Cloud State last Thursday (Jan. 20) in the Halenbeck Hall Pool. The Johnnies recorded 34 top-five marks/times, including 17 in the top three.

Junior Joe Koller (Savage, Minn./Shakopee) touched the wall second in the 100-yard backstroke (54.43) and third in the 200-yard individual medley (2:05.35).

Junior Beau Brinkman (Wayzata, Minn.) placed second in the 50-yard freestyle (22.35) and third (2:07.29), behind sophomore Alex Heer (St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall) in second (2:06.14), in the 200-yard backstroke.

Freshman Carter Larson (Sartell, Minn./Sartell-St. Stephen) claimed second in the 200-yard freestyle (1:47.39) and third in the 500-yard freestyle (5:02.08), while classmate Colby Kern (Delano, Minn.) finished second in the 100-yard freestyle (49.55).

Junior Ethan Huber (Mitchell, S.D.) was second in the 200-yard individual medley (2:04.14) and third in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:20.39), and junior Dylan Fleischhacker (Greenwald, Minn./Melrose Area) placed third in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:03.11).

Freshman Langston Philion (Maple Grove, Minn.) claimed third in the 100- (56.32) and 200-yard butterfly (2:06.86).

In the diving events, freshman Eli Grabinski (Sauk Rapids, Minn./Sauk Rapids-Rice) led SJU by taking third on both the 1- (240.45) and 3-meter (216.25) boards.

The Johnnies' 200-yard freestyle relay (Kern, Liam Noble, Larson, Brinkman) finished second (1:27.30) and the 200-yard medley relay (Koller, Fleischhacker, Kern, Noble) was third (1:38.85).

ACADEMIC HONOR: SJU earned College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Scholar All-America honors for Fall 2021 - the fifth consecutive semester - this past Monday (Jan. 24). In total, 728 programs from 450 institutions earned the honor, which is achieved by posting a team GPA of 3.0 or higher for the spring term. The 38 Johnnies combined for a 3.28 GPA last semester.

A LOOK AT THE GUSTIES: Gustavus Adolphus defeated regionally ranked Wisconsin-Stevens Point 1,353.5-1,264.5 last weekend (Jan. 21-22). Junior Dane Hudson was named the MIAC Men's Swimming Athlete of the Week after he placed among the top three finishers in three individual events and four relays at UWSP. He won the 100-yard backstroke (53.63), tied for first in the 100-yard butterfly (52.22) and took third in the 200-yard backstroke (2:01.39). He was also part of the first-place 200- (1:26.77) and 400-yard freestyle (3:12.12) relays, as well as the second-place 200- (1:35.94) and 400-yard medley (3:32.22) relays. Hudson currently boasts the MIAC's top times in the 50-yard butterfly (23.91), 100-yard butterfly (52.05) and 100-yard individual medley (53.14), while holding the second-best times in three other events and third in two more.

Junior Andrew Becker has the conference's top time in the 50-yard freestyle (20.89), while sophomore Kieran Ripken is first in the 50- (27.11) and 100-yard (58.65) breaststrokes.  

11 MONTHS AGO: Saint John's dropped a dual to Gustavus by a 236-97 margin last Feb. 20-21 (2021). The swimming competition was the first for SJU, which recorded 13 top-five (individual) finishes, since the Feb. 6 season opener.

The Johnnies swept the 100-yard backstroke in St. Peter, led by Koller in 55.74. Senior Spencer Atkinson (Cold Spring, Minn./Litchfield) and Heer followed in second (57.28) and third (57.41), respectively. Heer also claimed fourth in the 100- (56.52) and 200-yard (2:05.32) butterfly.

Eli Greenblat '21 touched the wall second in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:17.81) and third in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:02.57), while Huber placed second in the 100-yard backstroke (2:02.92).

Brinkman finished third in the 50-yard freestyle (22.30) and senior Steven Froehle (DuPont, Wash./Steilacoom) was close behind in fifth (22.66). Froehle was also fifth in the 100-yard butterfly (56.55).

Junior Jack Mehus (Fargo, N.D./South) claimed fourth in the 400-yard individual medley (4:36.08) and classmate Tim Belov (Medina, Minn./Wayzata) finished fifth in the 100-yard freestyle (49.84).

SJU's 200- (1:28.20; Froehle, Huber, Belov, Brinkman) and 400-yard (3:17.03; Huber, Froehle, Brinkman, Belov) freestyle relays finished second.

The day before in Collegeville, junior Jack Grabinski (Sauk Rapids, Minn./Sauk Rapids-Rice) set career bests in both the 1- (488.05) and 3-meter (542.05) dives to lead the Johnnies. His previous highs were 481.70 and 505.05, respectively.

Junior Connor Reed (Elk River, Minn./Spectrum) made his 2020-21 debut and finished second in both dives. His score of 448.85 on the 1-meter board topped what would have been the NCAA qualifying mark of 425.

IN THE MIAC: The Johnnies currently boast 23 top-5 marks/times in the MIAC.

50-Yard Freestyle
2. Liam Noble, 21.13
3. Colby Kern, 21.46
6. Steven Froehle, 21.63
9. Beau Brinkman, 21.90

100-Yard Freestyle
1. Liam Noble, 46.67
5. Ethan Huber, 47.84
6. Colby Kern, 47.90
8. Carter Larson, 48.07
9. Steven Froehle, 48.40

200-Yard Freestyle
3. Carter Larson, 1:45.07
5. Colby Kern, 1:46.24
7. Connor Thayer, 1:46.39

500-Yard Freestyle
5. Carter Larson, 4:48.53
6. Connor Thayer, 4:51.21

1,000-Yard Freestyle
6. Carter Larson, 10:24.94
8. Connor Thayer, 10:41.24

50-Yard Backstroke
1. Joe Koller, 24.21
5. Alex Heer, 25.09
6. T.J. Klinkner, 25.57

100-Yard Backstroke
1. Joe Koller, 51.62
6. Liam Noble, 53.59
8. Spencer Atkinson, 54.23
10. Beau Brinkman, 54.86

200-Yard Backstroke
1. Joe Koller, 1:54.24
8. T.J. Klinkner, 2:03.75
9. Alex Heer, 2:03.78
10. Spencer Atkinson, 2:04.28

50-Yard Breaststroke
3. Dylan Fleischhacker, 27.83
6. Jack Mehus, 28.34

100-Yard Breaststroke
6. Dylan Fleischhacker, 1:01.47
8. Jack Mehus, 1:01.68

200-Yard Breaststroke
6. Brogan O'Donnel, 2:17.34

50-Yard Butterfly
6. Colby Kern, 24.79
8. Alex Heer, 24.85
10. Liam Noble, 25.12

100-Yard Butterfly
5. Colby Kern, 53.21
6. Alex Heer, 53.31
7. Liam Noble, 53.53

200-Yard Butterfly
4. Alex Heer, 2:00.11
8. Langston Philion, 2:04.42

100-Yard Individual Medley
2. Ethan Huber, 54.31
6. Andrew East, 55.62
7. Joe Koller, 55.68
8. Jack Mehus, 55.95

200-Yard Individual Medley
1. Ethan Huber, 1:56.50
4. Joe Koller, 1:59.61

1-Meter Dive (6 Dives)
1. Jack Grabinski, 269.80
2. Eli Grabinski, 240.45
4. Connor Reed, 219.70
7. Christian Pfau, 197.30
8. Henry Braun, 160.35

3-Meter Dive (6 Dives)
1. Jack Grabinski, 285.30
2. Eli Grabinski, 216.25
5. Christian Pfau, 212.15
6. Connor Reed, 204.38
8. Henry Braun, 150.50
9. Sean Fisher, 79.15