Saint John's returns to competition with a 1 p.m. dual meet at Gustavus Adolphus this Saturday, Jan. 17, in St. Peter. – Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's finished sixth out of eight teams at the three-day Rochester Invitational, hosted by Division II St. Cloud State, back on Dec. 4-6. The host Huskies won the meet with 2,001 points, followed by Wisconsin-La Crosse (1,418) and NAIA St. Ambrose of Iowa (1,408.5). SJU was fourth among DIII schools behind La Crosse, Wisconsin-Eau Claire (1407.5) and Carleton (786). 

Senior Brayden Slavik (Green Isle, Minn./Chaska) won the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:30.15, which surpassed the NCAA B-cut time of 4:31.24. He set the SJU record in the event last year with a 4:29.49. His time was nine seconds short of the DIII A-cut time and two seconds faster than the Division II B cut.  

He added his second B-cut time of the weekend in the 1,650-yard freestyle with a time of 15:43.14 to win the event. He beat the cut time by nearly seven seconds – another event in which he set the SJU record (15:32.98) in at last February's MIAC Championships. His distance swim was 13 seconds faster than the second-place swimmer from SCSU. 

Slavik also finished second in the 400-yard individual medley (4:04.88) and was a member of three SJU freestyle relay teams, two of which finished in the top 10. 

Junior Cody Watts (St. Cloud, Minn./Tech) led SJU on the boards, taking fourth in the 1-meter (365.35) and sixth on the 3-meter dive (322.65). 

Sophomore Henry Hilgendorf (Owatonna, Minn.) finished seventh in the 3-meter dive (312.00) and sixth in the 1-meter (337.55), just ahead of teammate senior Tim Rotter (Blaine, Minn.), who was eighth on the 1-meter dive (312.90) and 10th on the 3-meter (300.15). 

Freshman Lincoln Cochran (Helena, Mont./Capital) took 12th in the 400-yard individual medley (4:18.11) and 13th in both the 200-yard breaststroke (2:14.27) and 200-yard individual medley (2:01.01) and 23rd in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:01.76). He was SJU's top finisher in four of his swims over the week.  

Freshman Vincent Schulze (Eden Prairie, Minn.) touched the wall 10th in the 200-yard freestyle (1:45.55), 16th in the 50-yard freestyle (21.71) and 39th in the 100-yard freestyle (49.35). 

Senior Carsten Reuter (St. Cloud, Minn./Tech) led SJU in the 100-yard freestyle (47.05), taking ninth to win the consolation final after placing 10th in the prelims. He added a 14th place finish in the 200-yard freestyle (1:47.10). 

Senior Clay Megaw (Monticello, Minn.) collected an 11th place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:12.74), 14th in the 100-yard breaststroke (59.88) and 23rd in the 100-yard individual medley (1:00.19). 

Junior Trevor Barton (Buffalo, Minn.) added a 12th place touch behind Slavik in the 1,650-yard freestyle (17:15.02), a 17th in the 500-yard freestyle (4:52.39) and finished 21st in the 400-yard individual medley (4:30.03). 

Freshman Braydon Ohrtman (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) finished with a pair of 22nd in freestyle finals, claiming the mark in both the 200- (1:48.83) and 500-yard (5:00.99) freestyles. 

Sophomore Jason Jones (Monticello, Minn.) was 19th in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:15.31), tied for 20th in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:01.37) and finished 23rd in the 200-yard individual medley (2:05.13). 

Junior Luis Flores (Hugo, Minn./Mahtomedi) was 20th in both the 200-yard butterfly (2:08.83) and 1,650-yard freestyle (17:48.41), and 22nd in the 400-yard individual medley (4:33.28). 

Sophomore Riley Yerks (Hutchinson, Minn.) touched the wall 22nd in the 200-yard backstroke (2:06.60) and 24th in the 100-yard backstroke (58.05), while junior Brennan Close (Princeton, Minn.) took 23rd in the 1,650-yard freestyle (19:17.84) and 24th in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:21.13). Senior Joe Fuller (Omaha, Neb./Creighton Prep) capped the SJU performances with a 24th in the 100-yard individual medley (1:06.19). 

SJU's relays: 
-400-yard freestyle (Slavik, Reuter, Schulze, Cochran), 14th (3:11.93) 
-800-yard freestyle (Barton, Slavik, Schulze, Ohrtman), sixth (7:10.45)  
-200-yard freestyle (Reuter, Ohrtman, Schulze, Slavik), seventh (1:25.73) 
-200-yard medley (Yerks, Jones, Flores, Ohrtman), 28th (1:43.80) 
-400-yard medley (Betts, Jones, Cochran, Ohrtman), 28th (3:44.71)

ANOTHER ATHLETE OF THE WEEK HONOR: Slavik was named the MIAC Men's Swimming Athlete of the Week Dec. 9 for his performance at the Rochester Invitational. The honor was his fourth of the season and 10th of his career.

LAST YEAR: SJU won 10 of the 16 events in a dramatic, 150-149 dual victory over Gustavus Adolphus last Feb. 1 (2025) in the Warner Palaestra Pool. The Johnnies' 200-yard freestyle relay (Reuter, Larson, Noble, Kern) clinched the victory with a win in 1:25.05 ahead of GAC (1:25.93) in the meet's final event.

The dual win was the first for the Johnnies over the Gusties in 27 years - Jan. 24, 1998 (132-111 in St. Peter).

Eli Grabinski '25 swept the diving events with an 11-dive score of 507.95 in the 1-meter event and a 524.00 on the 3-meter board. His mark in the 1-meter dive was the second-best in program history, while the 3-meter score was a career best and good for third on SJU's list.

Three Johnnies won two swimming events on the day. Carter Larson '25 touched the wall first in the 500-yard freestyle (4:52.22) and led three Johnnies in succession in the 1,000-yard freestyle (10:02.00). 

In addition to clinching the dual victory as the fourth leg of SJU's 200-yard freestyle relay, Colby Kern '25 won the 100- (47.79) and 200-yard (1:45.53) freestyles. 

Slavik took first in both the 200-yard backstroke (1:54.53) and 400-yard individual medley (4:15.65), and claimed second in the 100-yard backstroke (52.41).

Reuter won the 50-yard freestyle (21.59) and was second behind Kern in the 100-yard version (48.19).

Langston Philion '25 finished second in the 200-yard butterfly (2:01.27) and Megaw was second in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:14.83). Watts claimed second on both the 1- (432.25) and 3-meter (400.35) boards and the 200-yard medley relay (Slavik, Megaw, Noble, Reuter) placed second (1:36.69).

IN THE MIAC: The Johnnies currently tout 34 top-10 scores/times in the MIAC this season, including seven in the top slot (five by Slavik, one each by Reuter and Watts).

50-Yard Freestyle
1. Carsten Reuter, 21.54
t6. Vincent Schulze, 21.71

100-Yard Freestyle
1. Brayden Slavik, 46.92
2. Carsten Reuter, 47.05

200-Yard Freestyle
3. Vincent Schulze, 1:45.55
4. Brayden Slavik, 1:46.06
5. Carsten Reuter, 1:46.27

500-Yard Freestyle
1. Brayden Slavik, 4:30.15
6. Trevor Barton, 4:52.39

1,000-Yard Freestyle
1. Brayden Slavik, 9:30.13
8. Trevor Barton, 10:34.96

1,650-Yard Freestyle
1. Brayden Slavik, 15:43.14
5. Trevor Barton, 17:15.02
9. Luis Flores, 17:48.41

50-Yard Backstroke
5. Brayden Slavik, 24.83

100-Yard Backstroke
4. Brayden Slavik, 52.23

200-Yard Backstroke
4. Brayden Slavik, 1:57.13

50-Yard Breaststroke
3. Clay Megaw, 27.48

100-Yard Breaststroke
5. Clay Megaw, 59.83

200-Yard Breaststroke
6. Clay Megaw, 2:12.74
8. Lincoln Cochran, 2:14.27

200-Yard Individual Medley
4. Brayden Slavik, 1:58.25
9. Lincoln Cochran, 2:01.01

400-Yard Individual Medley
1. Brayden Slavik, 4:04.88
5. Lincoln Cochran, 4:18.11
10. Trevor Barton, 4:30.03

1-Meter Dive (6 Dives)
1. Cody Watts, 281.60
3. Henry Hilgendorf, 227.20
4. Tim Rotter, 216.50
8. Nate Krotzer, 132.05

3-Meter Dive (6 Dives)
2. Cody Watts, 327.40
3. Henry Hilgendorf, 312.00
4. Tim Rotter, 300.15
8. Nate Krotzer, 151.90