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Hvistendahl leads Ole men to second place finish

Sawra Karimi
January 28, 2002

Jake Hvistendahl (So., Minnetonka, Minn.) won two individual events and led off two champion relays to lead the Oles to a second place finish, this past Friday and Saturday, January 25-26, at the competitive "Get to the Point Invitational" in Steven?s Point, Wisconsin. The Oles finished second to South Dakota State.

Hvistendahl not only won his events but also dominated over the rest of the competition. His winning time of 52.80 in the 100-yard backstroke was almost two seconds faster than the runner-up time and his time of 1:56.77 in the 200-yard backstroke was three seconds faster than the second place swimmer from the University of South Dakota. He also had amazing lead off splits in the 200 and 400- yard winning medley relays. Eric Palmer (So., Roseville, Minn.) swam the breaststroke in both of the relays while Adam Garret (So., Cannon Falls, Minn.) was the butterflyer for the Oles in these two relays. Drew Vanderwert (FY., St. Paul, Minn.) anchored the 200-yard medley relay and Lee Thomsen (So., El Cajon, Calif.) anchored the 400- yard medley relay.

The only other winner for the Oles was Gabe Kortuem (Sr., Andover, Minn.) who won both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving competitions. The performance of the Oles? divers were crucial in the final standings of the meet. On the one-meter Kyle Rudser (Sr., Northfield, Minn.) and Jake Dunn (Sr., St. Charles, Minn.) followed Korteum with second and third place finishes, while Brad Worm (FY., Cohasset, Minn.) finished sixth. The 3-meter also went well for the Oles, with first, second, sixth and seventh place finishes from Korteum, Rudser, Worm, and Dunn, respectively. The points garnered by the divers provided a definite advantage for the Oles over the rest of the competition.

The Oles also fared well in the 400-yard IM and the 100 and 200-yard breaststrokes. The preliminary swims of Tom Dow (Sr., Poway, Calif.), Jim Chase (Sr., Winnetka, Ill.) and Pat Marzolf (So., St. Paul, Minn.) were good enough to qualify them for the finals. Dow had an amazing final swim to drop seven seconds and move up three positions from the morning, and finished fourth with an impressive time of 4:22.89. Chase finished sixth with a time of 4:30.94 while Marzolf finished eighth.

The 200-yard breaststroke was even more successful with four Oles making the finals, and therefore, dominating half of the top eight spots. Dow once again led the way with a second place finish with a time of 2:14.64, while Eric Palmer finished close behind to earn third place honors with a time of 2:15.20. Ryan Lussenden (Sr., Morris, Minn.) and Grant Van Lishout (Jr, Reedsville, Wis.) finished the event off with sixth and seventh place finishes with times of 2:19.53 and 2:20.59, respectively. The domination of the breaststroke events continued in the 100-yard breaststroke. Palmer had the top finish for the Oles in this event, finishing fifth with a time of 1:02.22. Dow?s time of 1:03.22 earned him a seventh place finish. In the consolation finals, Lussenden finished third with a time of 1:03.95 while Matt Raecker (FY., Ceder Falls, Iowa) finished eight with a time of 1:04.55.

Thomsen and Vanderwert had stellar performances to lead the Oles in the freestyle events. Thomsen made finals in all three of his events. His top finish came in the 200-yard freestyle where he finished fourth with a time of 1:48.89. In addition, Thomsen came in sixth in the 100-yard freestyle and seventh in the 500- yard freestyle with times of 49.78 and 4:58.52, respectively. Vanderwert not only had an amazing split in the championship 200-yard medley relay, but he also finished tenth in his 200-yard freestyle (1:51.98) and fourteenth in the 50-yard freestyle (22.95).

Although the Oles only won four individual events, their ability to place people in the top eight positions consistently is what gave them the edge over other teams. This edge placed them ahead of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, a team they lost to last year. Stevens Point is by far the dominant team in the Wisconsin conference, and a win over them is not only an accomplishment for the Oles but is proof that they can compete with the best teams in the Midwest.

The Oles will take on conference opponent University of St. Thomas at 6:00 PM on Friday, February 1, in St.Paul.

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