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Oles give it their all against a tough Gustavus team

Sawra Karimi
November 12, 2001

The St. Olaf men?s and women?s swimming and diving team traveled to St. Peter, Minn. on Friday, November 9, to compete against conference rival Gustavus Adolphus College. The Oles had some phenomenal swims and stepped it up a notch, but unfortunately the Gusties depth was too much, and both of the teams lost.

On the women?s side the first year swimmers showed no signs of intimidation and helped lead the women?s team as they finished with a respectable 104 points to the Gustie?s 138. Katie Detwiler (FY, Fort Atkinson, Wis.) pulled off an Ironman performance for the Oles swimming three difficult events with in hours of each other. She swam away from the competition in the 1000-yard freestyle finishing with a great time of 11:02.24. Three events later she showed her versatility by coming in second in the 200-yard Individual Medley in a time of 2:17.12. With only diving as a break, Detwiler then went on to win the 200- yard butterfly with a time of 2:15.88.

Katy Brentz (FY, Arden Hills, Minn) led the Ole sprinters with a close and exciting win in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 25.05. In the 100-yard freestyle she finished second in 55.05, but only three one-hundredths of second behind the winner from Gustavus. Brentz also anchored the 400-yard medley relay of Liz Hathaway (So, Lincoln, Neb.), Anna Guenther (Jr, Minneapolis, Minn.), and Katie Buecksler (Jr, Owatonna, Minn) to a second place finish with a time of 4:11.38. Sara Champlain (FY, Prescott, Wis.) and Jenna Kubat (FY, Des Moines, Iowa) also turned in strong performances for the Oles and showed they can perform under pressure. Champlain finished second in the 200-yard butterfly with lifetime best of 2:18.59 and third in the 1000-yard freestyle, while Kubat came out of her shell to finish a close third in the 200-yard freestyle (2:01.97) and 200-yard butterfly (2:23.94).

Other wins for the Ole women came from Laura Schutt (Jr, Niles, Ill.) in one of the most exciting swims of the meet. Schutt out touched a tough Gustie swimmer in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:01.53. Schutt also swam to second place in the 500 free with a great in season time of 5:24.82.

Alicia Fox (So, Minnetonka, Minn.) once again showed her domination on the boards by winning the 1-meter diving competition with a score of 226.75 and coming in second on three meter with a score of 233.40.

The men also had some impressive swims. Jake Hvistendahl (So, Minnetonka, Minn.) led the men?s team winning the 200-yard backstroke with an outstanding time of 1:57.62. Hvistendahl also led off the winning 400-yard medley relay team that consisted of Tom Dow (Sr, Poway, Calif.) Ian Kleats (FY, Shorewood, Wis.) and Lee Thomsen (So, El Cajon, Calif.). Dow also had an individual win for the Oles in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:15.04. Not only did Dow win the event, but the team as a whole showed their domination in the breaststroke by sweeping the next three places and outscoring the Gusties in the event by 13 points. Junior transfer, Grant Van Lishout (Reedsville, Wis.) took second place followed by Eric Palmer (So, Roseville, Minn.) and then Ryan Lussenden (Sr, Morris, Minn.).

On the men?s boards the powerful duo of Gabe Kortem (Sr, Andover, Minn.) and Kyle Rudser (Sr, Northfield, Minn.) once again impressed the crowds with strong finishes. Korteum won the three-meter diving competition with a score of 271.30. Rudser took over on the one-meter, placing second with a score of 293.95. Another high point for the men came from Pat Marzolf (So, St. Paul, Minn) who came from behind in the 1000-yard freestyle to finish second with a time of 10:32.80.

Unfortunately the depth of the Gustavus men?s team was too much for the Oles to overcome. The final score had the Gusties with 150 points to the Ole?s 93. Although both teams were defeated by Gustavus, Captain Jim Chase was impressed with the overall performance of the team. " The men?s 200 breast was great. The 1,2,3,4 performance showed the Ole?s will to race all the way to the end." This meet should prove to have been a good warm up for this coming weekend when select Oles will travel to the University of Minnesota to display their talents against division one teams from all over the country.

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