You reached this page through the archive. Click here to return to the archive.

Note: This article is over a year old and information contained in it may no longer be accurate. Please use the contact information in the lower-left corner to verify any information in this article.

Hometown swimming rivals go head to head

Sawra Karimi
February 11, 2002

The St. Olaf swimming and diving team took on their neighbors from across the river this past Saturday, February 9, in what proved to be one of the most exciting meets of the year. Although the men easily won, the women?s competition was far more intense. The lead bounced between the two until the very end where Carleton came out as the winners.

The final score in the women?s competition was 164-139, favoring Carleton. In a meet of this format a 25-point spread is minimal. The first place competitor earns nine points for their team, whereas the points for second place drop all the way down to four. This five-point difference is significant, and can result in a ten point flip between teams. This was the case for the Oles. They led the meet for the first half, but Carleton was stronger in the back half and was able to obtain those crucial first places. Although the Oles were not able to beat their conference rival, they had a phenomenal day in the pool. The foursome of Liz Hathaway (So., Lincoln, Neb.), Kate Nygaard (Jr., Franktown, Colo.), Katie Buecksler (Jr., Owatonna, Minn.) and Katie Brentz (FY., Arden Hills, Minn.) teamed up to start out the meet on a good note with a victory in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:53.24. Katie Detwiler (FY., Fort Atkinson, Wis.) carried the momentum over into the next race. Detwiler won the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 11:00.76, over Spalding of Carleton. These two competitors are the favorites in the mile at the conference meet, and Detwiler?s win is a definite confidence booster.

One of the most exciting swims of the meet came in the 200-yard butterfly. Both teams are very strong in this event, which resulted in some great times. Detwiler once again came through for the Oles with a winning time of 2:15.74. It seemed that last year?s conference champ in the event, Conchran from Carleton, was going to come in second. But an exceptional race from Sonia Karimi (Jr., Rochester, Minn.) prevented this from happening. Karimi held back for the first half of the race and was in fourth place going into the last 50 yards. She had an amazing last fifty yards to come from behind and place second with a season best time of 2:18.35. Not only did this benefit the Oles in points scored, it also increased their enthusiasm. Kate Nygaard had some inspiration swims for the Oles with convincing wins in the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke. Nygaard dominated over the competition finishing with a time of 1:10.39 in the 100 and 2:34.04 in the 200. Not only was the meet the last dual meet for the seniors on the team, but it was also the championship meet some of the women. Alli Wilder (FY., Lacrosse, Wis.), Rachel Vanscoy (FY., Littleton, Colo.), Marcy Bartsch (Sr., Billings, Mont.), Steph Skladzien (Sr., Kildeer, Ill.), and Kari Maland (FY., Eagan, Minn.) had some great performances. Wilder and Skladzien both dropped a significant amount of time in their breaststroke events to achieve personal bests. Bartsch had a season best time in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:07.12, while Vanscoy dropped over three seconds in her 100-yard butterfly with a final time of 1:05.28. Maland also had an amazing 100-yard butterfly with a season best time of 1:04.17.

The St. Olaf men also had an amazing day in the pool, and were victorious over the Knights. The depth of the Ole team was too much for the Knights as shown with the final score of 202-105. The men began the meet in the same fashion as the women with a great performance in the 200-yard medley relay. Even with out standout backstroker, Jake Hvistendahl (So., Minnetonka, Minn.) who was out with an illness, the Oles were able to claim a one-two finish in the event. Ian Kleats (FY., Shorewood, Wis.), Tom Dow (Sr., Poway, Calif.), Adam Garrett (So., Cannon Falls, Minn.), and Bo Connelly (Sr., Hutchinson, Minn.) were the champions with a time of 1:39.44. Kleats did a great job filling in for Hvistendahl not only in the relay, but also in the 100 and 200-yard backstroke. Kleats filled in the gap with wins in both events (56.34 and 2:03.87 respectively). In the 200-yard backstroke it was Kurt Sandvig (FY., Cypress, Calif.) who filled the gap with a season best time of 2:03.87, which was good enough for a win. Eric Palmer (So., Roseville, Minn.) was a double winner for the Oles, capturing wins in both the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststrokes, finishing with times of 1:01.98 and 2:16.95, respectively. Palmer has been virtually untouchable in the breaststroke events this year and should be a top contender at the conference meet. Matt Raecker (FY., Cedar Falls, Iowa) also did well in the breaststroke events, finishing second to Palmer in the 200 with a final time of 2:19.66. Gabe Korteum (Sr., Andover, Minn.) was the other double winner for the men, with wins in both the compulsory and voluntary parts of the diving competition, with scores of 208.30 and 302.80, respectively. Fellow diver Jake Dunn (Sr., St. Charles, Minn.) also performed well, to finish second to Korteum in the voluntary dives. In addition Dunn?s total score was within the national qualifying standard. Dow, Garrett, and Lee Thomsen (So., El Cajon, Calif.) also had individual wins for the Ole men. Dow won the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:05.60, and Garrett took care of the 100-yard butterfly, winning with a time of 54.22. Thomsen once again did well in the freestyle events, with a win in the 500 (5:00.02). The men were not with out some inspirational swims on their way to victory. Ross Bidlingmaier (FY., Madison, Wis.), Ryan Vanwyk (So., Lakeville, Minn.), and Brandon Henry (Sr., Norman, Okla.) were rested for the meet, and had standout performances. Bidlingmaier placed third in the 200-yard freestyle with a season best time of 1:51.31, while Vanwyk turned in one of the fastest times on the team this year in the 50-yard freestyle, with a time of 22.51. In the last performance of his swimming career, Henry had a fantastic 100-yard butterfly. Henry?s time of 58.91 was a personal best. Ryan Lussenden (Sr., Morris, Minn.) had the most remarkable swim of the meet turning in an amazing in season time in his 200-yard individual medley. Lussenden took the lead from the very beginning and only built on it to finish well ahead of the competition with a final time of 2:01.62. The energy and excitement in the air through out the meet was tremendous. Both the Ole men and women had emotional meets. This was both the last dual and home meet for the seniors. The team took the opportunity to honor the fourteen seniors and thank them for their contributions to the team over the last four years. Graduating this year will be Bartsch, Stacy Koskiniemi (Blaine, Minn.), Leslie Nechville (Bloomington, Minn), Skladien, Jim Chase (Winnetka, Ill.), Connelly, Dow, Dunn, Henry, Korteum, Lussenden, Erik Maland (Eagan, Minn.), Jered McGivern (Wausau, Wis.), and Kyle Rudser (Northfield, Minn.). St. Olaf and Carleton have a history of great enthusiasm between them. The Oles enjoy competing with the Knights, knowing the meet will provide an exciting atmosphere in which the swimmers thrive. This year proved to be no different. Many great times and inspirational swims were turned in by both teams. St. Olaf will now rest for the next two weeks before competing in the three day MIAC championships, which takes place Febuary 21-23 at the University of Minnesota. On the women?s side Gustavus, Carleton and St. Olaf will be the top contenders, and on the men?s side it will be a dogfight between the Oles and Gustavus.

Contact Judy Stromayer at 507-786-3315 or stromaye@stolaf.edu.