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Ole men swimmers dominate over St. Mary's

Sawra Karimi
December 3, 2001

The St. Olaf men's swimming and diving team traveled to Winona Friday, November 30th, to take on conference opponent St. Mary's. The Ole men won all thirteen events on their way to an easy victory over the Cardinals 158-67.

Although the competition was not as challenging, the men still turned in great performances. Lee Thomsen (So, El Cajon, Calif.) and Patrick Marzolf (So, St. Paul, Minn.) led the Ole charge with double wins in their events. Thomsen won the 200-yard freestyle by over nine seconds with a final time of 1:47.55, and sprinted to victory in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 49.46. Marzolf showed his talent in the longer events winning the 200-yard individual medley and the 500-yard freestyle with times of 2:03.73 and 5:01.19, respectively. Marzolf also teamed up with backstroker Jake Hvistendahl (So, Minnetonka, Minn.) breaststroker Grant Vanlishout (Jr, Reedsville, Wis.) and flyer Adam Garret (So, Cannon Falls, Minn.) to win the 400-yard Medley Relay. The foursome finished with a time of 4:43.04.

Garret and Hvistendahl had great individual performances. Hvistendahl once again showed his conference domination in the backstroke by winning the 100-yard backstroke convincingly with a time of 53:55. Garret out touched teammate Ian Kleats (FY, Shorewood, Wis.) in the 50-yard freestyle to win with a time of 22.89. The tables turned in the 100-yard butterfly when Kleats took the victory for the Oles, over Garret, with a time of 55:07.

Garret and Kleats performances against each other showed the Ole's ability to be competitive and push each regardless of the opposing competition. This competitiveness was also shown in the 1000-yard freestyle where Ole swimmers Jim Chase (So, Winnetka, Ill. -New Trier) and Adam Lukens (Jr, Wichita, Kan.) continually pushed each other through out the long race. The lead bounced between the two until the very end where Chase out touched Lukens, by less then a second, with a final time of 10:41.98.

The divers once again proved to be a valuable asset to the team with their strong performances. They swept the competition on the one-meter board, led by veteran Kyle Rudser (Sr, Northfield, Minn.) who turned in a score of 267.75. Jake Dunn (Sr, St. Charles, Minn.), Brad Wourms (FY, Cohasset, Minn.) and Tommy Korteum (FY, Andover, Minn.) followed in suit finishing 2nd, 3rd and 4th, respectively. The divers also fared well on the three-meter board, but chose to dive in exhibition and not count their points.

Eric Palmer had a great meet overall swimming season best times in both of his events. He turned in the fastest time of the meet in the 100-yard breaststroke with a strong in-season time of 1:01.82. He finished third in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:07.49.

The meet proved be a valuable experience for the men as they come closer to the conference meet. It was a great way to get back into the swing of things after Thanksgiving break. The Ole's will train hard this coming week before their final home meet before break against St. Johns University, this coming Friday, December 7th. If their performances continue to improve as they have thus far this season the Ole's should be at their best and more then ready to take on the Johnnies.

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