The Johnnie swim and dive team faces St. Olaf for a neutral-site dual meet this Saturday, Oct. 31, at St. Kate's Butler Center Pool in St. Paul. Swimming begins at 10 a.m., followed by diving at 2 p.m. - Live Video

A LOOK AT THE JOHNNIES: Saint John's won nine of 16 events in a dramatic, 149-148 dual victory over Macalester last Saturday (Oct. 24) in Collegeville. The Johnnies' 200-yard freestyle relay (Ohrtman, Peetz, Betts, Schulze) clinched the victory with a win in 1:28.92 ahead of MAC (1:29.73) in the meet's final event. 

The dual win avenged the 155-143 loss to the Scots a year ago in St. Paul. SJU has won nine of the last 10 dual meetings dating back to Jan. 17, 2004. 

Freshman Lucas Penn (Greenley, Colo./Windsor) picked up SJU's first victory of the day, winning the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:46.94. Senior Trevor Barton (Buffalo, Minn.) was second with a 10:47.79. Penn also won the 500-yard freestyle, touching the wall in 5:07.10. Barton was just behind in him that race as well, taking second with a 5:07.70.

In addition to his relay contributions, sophomore Braydon Ohrtman (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) also took first in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:50.11. He was fourth in the 100-yard freestyle (49.66) behind classmate Vincent Schulze (Eden Prairie, Minn.) in second with a 49.07. 

Schulze also won the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 22.27. Senior Ben Edwards (Burnsville, Minn.) finished third (23.27) and freshman Bruce Peetz (Tomahawk, Wis.) fifth (23.73) to score points for SJU. 

Sophomore Tanner Betts (Stacy, Minn./Chisago Lakes) led the Johnnies in the backstroke, finishing third in the 100-yard (58.54) and fourth in the 200-yard (2:13.97). 

Junior Jason Jones (Monticello, Minn.) led a Johnnie contingent that claimed three of the top five spots in the 100-breast. Jones touched the wall in 1:00.16 for first, followed by freshman Rowan Lesmeister (Minneapolis, Minn./Roosevelt) in third (1:02.83) and sophomore Lincoln Cochran (Helena, Mont./Capital) in fourth (1:04.18). Cochran also finished second in the 200-yard individual medley (2:04.38)

Senior Luis Flores (Hugo, Minn./Mahtomedi) finished third in the 200-yard fly (2:21.96), followed by sophomore David Lammers (Willmar, Minn.) in fourth (2:22.69). 

Senior Cody Watts (St. Cloud, Minn./Tech) won the 1-meter diving with 261.05 points on six dives. Junior Henry Hilgendorf (Owatonna, Minn.) finished second (191.35) and freshman Ethan Jakobs (Montevideo, Minn.) finished fourth (144.95). Watts also claimed the 3-meter board with a 260.55. Hilgendorf (188.95) and Jakobs (118.7) were second and fourth again, respectively.

DIVER OF THE WEEK: Watts was named the MIAC Men's Diver of the Week for the seventh time of his career on Tuesday (Oct. 27) for his performance against Macalester. Both diving scores lead the MIAC this season and rank 18th in NCAA Division III.

A LOOK AT THE OLES: St. Olaf finished third out of 10 teams, thanks to eight top-10 finishes, at the MIAC vs. WIAC Invitational on Oct. 17 in Rochester. Freshman Samuel Reilly secured the Oles' lone first-place finish in the 200-yard individual medley  (1:55.86) to go with fourth in the 400-yard individual medley (4:16.59) and ninth in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:01.97). He was named the MIAC Swimmer of the Week for his performance. Classmates Gabe Guglietta and Soren Wilkes garnered fourth (2:02.58) and 10th (2:09.11), respectively, in the 200-yard butterfly. Junior Travis Elling placed fifth in the 200-yard backstroke (2:03.15), while senior William Wallace tied for third in the 50-yard freestyle (21.37) and another senior, Jack Homme, took seventh in the 100-yard butterfly (53.92).

LAST YEAR'S DUAL: SJU and STO tied the last time the two teams met on Nov. 1 (2025) at St. Kate's. The Johnnies won seven events and totaled 25 top-three performances for 147 points. The tie was the second in program history on record after a 150-150 draw at Carleton on Jan. 23, 2016.

Brayden Slavik '26 won all of his individual events and led one of two Johnnie relays to victory, while Watts swept the diving competition for the third consecutive week.  

Slavik won the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 9:58.26 - nearly a minute faster than the second place Ole – and was first in the 200-yard backstroke in 1:57.77. The 400-yard freestyle relay, which featured Slavik in the fourth leg, won with a time of 3:14.09. Ohrtman, Carsten Reuter '26 and Schulze joined Slavik in the relay win.

Watts helped Saint John's to critical points in the diving competition that evened the score between the two teams. He posted a 427.35 on the 3-meter and a 421.60 on the 1-meter. The diving competition featured a podium full of Johnnies, as Tim Rotter '26 finished second on both boards with a 314.60 (3-meter) and a 359.75 (1-meter). Junior Nate Krotzer (Blaine, Minn./Spring Lake Park) was third on the 3-meter (235.10) and Hilgendorf took third on the 1-meter (350.60). 

Ohrtman also won the 200-yard freestyle, touching the wall in 1:49.95 and was second in the 500-yard freestyle behind Barton in first (5:05.72). Barton added another podium appearance in the 200-yard butterfly (2:16.04) 

Clay Megaw '26 added two individual second-place finishes in the 100- (1:02.03) and 200-yard breaststrokes (2:20.93). He also contributed to the second place 200-yard medley relay (1:38.72) alongside Slavik, Lammers and Schulze. Jones was just behind Megaw in the 100-yard breaststroke with a 1:03.82. 

Reuter was second in the 100-yard freestyle (49.52) and third in the 50-yard of the same stroke (22.06), as well as the 100-yard butterfly (56.55). Cochran added SJU's final second place touch in the 200-yard individual medley (2:07.99). He was also third in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:22.08). 

Betts swam a 12:03.30 for third in the 1,000-yard freestyle, Andrew Roggeman '26 was third in the 100-yard backstroke (58.82) and Schulze took third in the 100-yard freestyle (50.34).

IN THE MIAC: The Johnnies enter the weekend with 23 top-10 scores/times in the conference so far this season, including three in the top slot (two by Watts and one by Cochran). 
 
50-Yard Freestyle 
8. Vincent Schulze, 22.27 
 
100-Yard Freestyle 
6. Vincent Schulze, 49.07 
 
200-Yard Freestyle 
3. Vincent Schulze, 1:49.26 
7. Braydon Ohrtman, 1:50.11 
 
500-Yard Freestyle 
3. Lucas Penn, 5:07.10 
4. Trevor Barton, 5:07.70 
8. Braydon Ohrtman, 5:10.21 
 
1,000-Yard Freestyle 
3. Lucas Penn, 10:46.94 
4. Trevor Barton, 10:47.79 
7. MacKay Hoglund, 11:15.20 
 
100-Yard Breaststroke  
3. Jason Jones, 1:00.16 
7. Rowan Lesmeister, 1:02.83 
 
200-Yard Breaststroke 
4. Jason Jones, 2:16.69 
6. Rowan Lesmeister, 2:19.57 
 
200-Yard Individual Medley  
7. Lincoln Cochran, 2:04.38 
 
400-Yard Individual Medley 
7. Lincoln Cochran, 4:35.02 
9. Lucas Penn, 4:36.11 
 
1-Meter Dive (6 Dives) 
1. Cody Watts, 261.05 
2. Henry Hilgendorf, 191.35 
6. Ethan Jakobs, 144.95 
 
3-Meter Dive (6 Dives) 
1. Cody Watts, 260.55 
2. Henry Hilgendorf, 188.95 
4. Ethan Jakobs, 133.95