Day 2 Results
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Saint John's swimming and diving broke three school records but slipped to second place following Day 2 of the MIAC Championships on Thursday, Feb. 17, at the University of Minnesota's Jean Freeman Aquatic Center in Minneapolis.
No. 25 Gustavus jumped ahead of SJU with 343 points, to the Johnnies' 276. St. Olaf is third (172), followed by Carleton (169), Macalester (76) and Hamline (20).
Day 3 of the four-day meet starts with prelims at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Feb. 18, in Minneapolis. Finals begin at 6:30 p.m.
A school-record seven Johnnies earned points in the 50-yard freestyle, which surpassed the previous mark of six matched in 1996, 2005 and 2015. Freshman
Liam Noble (Plymouth, Minn./Benilde-St. Margaret's) led the contingent with a third-place finish in 21.04 to earn All-MIAC honors (top three). Classmate
Colby Kern (Delano, Minn.) was close behind in fourth (21.19), followed by junior
Beau Brinkman (Wayzata, Minn.) in sixth (21.48) and senior
Steven Froehle (DuPont, Wash./Steilacoom) in eighth (21.80).
Freshman
Zach Ruoff (Melrose, Minn.) won the 50-yard freestyle's B final, ninth overall, with a time of 21.64. Senior
Spencer Atkinson (Cold Spring, Minn./Litchfield) claimed 12th (22.21) and freshman
T.J. Klinkner (Lakeville, Minn./North) was 15th (22.51).
The Johnnies' 400-yard medley relay (
Joe Koller,
Dylan Fleischhacker,
Alex Heer, Noble) ended the night with a second-place finish and a school-record time of 3:27.37, five seconds behind the Gusties. The relay itself was not the only record broken, however. Junior
Joe Koller (Savage, Minn./Shakopee) recorded SJU's fastest time in the 100-yard backstroke, the first leg of the relay, in 51.21 seconds. The previous record was 51.28 set by Braden McCormack '16 in 2014.
A trio of juniors collected points for SJU in the 200-yard individual medley. Koller placed fourth (1:56.43), 0:00.83 from All-MIAC accolades in third place, while
Ethan Huber (Mitchell, S.D.) took sixth (1:56.97) and
Jack Mehus (Fargo, N.D./South) was 14th (2:01.10).
Freshmen
Carter Larson (Sartell, Minn./Sartell-St. Stephen) and
Connor Thayer (Prior Lake, Minn.) claimed sixth (4:43.26) and ninth (4:47.85), respectively, in the 500-yard freestyle. Larson's time was the fourth-fastest in program history.
