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Men & Women swimmers split with Gustavus

Sawra Karimi
November 11, 2002

For the last week the St. Olaf mens and womens swimming and diving team has had only one thing on mind; their dual meet against conference rivals Gustavus Adolphus College. Their focus and preparation accumulated into what Coach Dave Hauck called, "an electrifying experience." After losing to both the men's and women team last year, at the Gustavus pool, the Oles were determined to put things right again. This would be the teams' first big test of the year, to truly see the capabilities of every member of the team. The women rose to the challenge and defeated the Gusties with a final score of 149-96. The men swam exceptionally well, but were unable to match the depth of the Gustavus men. The final score was 79-164, in favor of the Gusties.

The Ole women won the first event of the meet, the 400-yard Medley Relay, and never looked back. Carly Knoell (FY, Lincoln, Neb.), Anna Guenther (SR, Minneapolis, Minn.), Lauren Haugen (FY, Faribault, Minn.) and Kate Blum (FY, Marshalltown, Iowa) teamed up to provide an exciting race. The women garnered first place in the event with an amazing in season time of 4:08.45. The distance swimmers took the momentum from there to dominate the 1000-yard freestyle. The Oles took first, second and fourth led by sophomore standout Katie Detwiler (Fort Atkinson, Wisc.), who won with a time of 11:11.27. Detwiler would go on to win two more events for the Oles, the 200-yard individual medley and the 200-yard butterfly. Her winning times were 2:16.93 and 2:17.78, respectively.

Detwiler was not the only multiple winner for the Oles. Laura Schutt (SR, Niles, Illi.) had an outstanding day for the Oles with wins in both the 200 and 500-yard freestyles (2:01.58 and 5:27. 94, respectively). Blum, Knoell and Guenther also turned in individual victories. Blum had the fastest time in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 55.41, while. Knoell won the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:16. 54. In one of the most exciting races of the meet Guenther won the 200-yard breaststroke over Eva Miller of Gustavus. After trailing Miller for the first half of the race, Guenther came back hard to win by the smallest margin possible. Her final time was 2:31.18 was only one-hundredth of a second faster then the 2:31.19 turned in by Miller. The Oles ended the meet just as convincingly as they started it. Liz Hathaway (JR, Lincoln, Neb.), Emily Love (FY, Kansas City, Missouri), Alisha Cowell (FY, Lakeville, Minn.) and Schutt combined their efforts together to win the 400-yard freestyle with a time of 3:45.22.

The success of the women was not only due to the individual wins; rather it was the depth of the team that allowed them to win. The Oles outscored the Gusties in 10 out of the 13 events.

The final score on the men's side was not an accurate reflection of the determination and competitiveness that the Ole men displayed against Gustavus. The men fought until the very end, and proved to the Gusties that they wouldn't be easily beat. Although the men lacked the immense depth of the Gustavus team, they were still able to place well in every event. Mark Glineberg (FY, St. Paul, Minn.) won the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:18.88, and then went onto swim both the 200-yard individual medley and the 500-yard freestyle, where he placed third and second, respectively. Lee Thomsen (JR, El Cajon, Calif.) was also victorious in his efforts with a win in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:48.61. The most impressive swims of the meet came from transfer student Anthony Blum (JR, Marshalltown, Iowa). The fact that Blum hasn't swam competitively for over two years was not evident in his performances. Blum was second in the 50-yard freestyle and was also part of both the 400-yard medley and 400yard freestyle relays that turned in second place performances.

The Oles will take a well-deserved break from competition this coming weekend, before heading up to the University of Minnesota for the annual U of M invitational which takes place November 22-24. The Oles are part of only a handful of Division III teams that are invited to compete at this meet, which showcases some of the most talented Division I programs from across the nation. The meet is run in championship format, meaning preliminaries races are swam in the morning and championship races in the evening. The meet has always provided an opportunity for the Oles to compete at a high level and swim the longer events that are not always offered at dual meets.

Contact Le Ann Finger at 507-786-3315 or finger@stolaf.edu.