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Oles Swim by Tommies

Katie Buecksler
January 31, 2001

On Friday, January 26, the St. Olaf Swimming and Diving team hosted the men?s and women?s teams from the University of St. Thomas at Skoglund Pool. All of the swimmers and divers were happy to be back in their home pool- this was their second home meet of the season. The last time the Oles had a home pool advantage was against Gustavus Adolphus on November 10, 2000. The Oles proved to be very comfortable at home, as Coach Bob Hauck said, "We had great improvements as a whole team regarding times and scores, compared to last weekend?s meet when we traveled to Stevens Point, WI. During Friday?s meet, the Oles did a great job of being really enthusiastic as a team and supportive of each other." A highlight for the entire team was gaining two members back on the men?s side who were gone for the Global Semester trip. Ryan Palmer (SR, Roseville, MN) and Bo Connelly (JR, Hutchinson, MN) returned on Tuesday ,and had a great couple days of practice before going into their first meet of the season. These two men proved to be a great addition to the men?s team on Friday night, and will continue to be as the team heads to the conference meet.

Both the men?s and women?s teams started off the meet with wins in the 400 medley relay. The team of BJ Brent (SO, Ankeny, IA), Tom Dow (JR, Poway, CA), Mark Lykins (SR, Nisswa, MN), and Adam Garrett (FR, Cannon Falls, MN) finished in a time of 3:42.96, and earned the first place honors for the men. Liz Hathaway (FR, Lincoln, NE), Anna Guenther (SO, Minneapolis, MN), Emily Bendson (SO, Edina, MN) and Chrissy Soule (SR, Mound, MN) swam their way to a first place finish for the woman in a time of 4:15.47. In the 200 freestyle, Laura Schutt (SO, Niles, IL) captured first place honors finishing with a time of 2:02.77, and Jim Chase (JR, Winnetka, IL) finished first in the men?s 200 freestyle with a time of 1:52.52. Ellen Prange (SR, Madison, WI) proved to be a strong duo with Hathaway in the 50 freestyle by finishing in 1st and 2nd place respectively. This is the first time this season that the Ole women sprinters have had a 1-2 finish. Prange took the first place honors with a time of 26.46 and Hathaway came in second with a time of 26.50. For the men?s team, Jake Hvistendahl (FR, Minnetonka, MN) captured a first place finish in the 50 freestyle with a time of 22.80. Emily Taylor (SR, Edina, MN) swam a new event in Friday?s meet and proved to be very successful. Taylor swam the 200 IM and came in first with a time of 2:22.07. Ryan Lussenden (JR, Morris, MN) swam to a first place finish in the 200 IM for the men finishing with a time of 2:05.26. The Ole 200 butterfliers had a great night; Sonia Karimi (SO, Rochester, MN) took first place honors for the women finishing with a time of 2:18.90.

On the men?s side, Adam Garrett pushed his sprinting abilities by testing out the 200 butterfly for the first time, and proved to be very successful. Garrett finished in first place with a time of 2:04.90. In the 100 freestyle the Oles had another pair of first place finishes. Chrissy Soule took the honors for the women with a time of 57.02, and Lee Thomsen (FR, El Cajon, CA) captured first place for the men with a time of 48.83. In the 200 backstroke Emily Bendson came in first with a time of 2:22.44 for the women, and Chris Anderson (SR, Edina, MN) finished in first on the men?s side coming into the wall with a time of 2:02.53. Anne Lindberg (FR, Maple Grove, MN) swam her way to a first place finish in the 500 freestyle in a time of 5:23.33, just touching out teammate Laura Schutt who took second with a time of 5:23.36. On the men?s side Tom Dow was able to try distance freestyle, quite the change from breaststroke, but he proved to be successful in the 500 freestyle by taking the win, and finishing in a time of 5:08.84. There is a vast amount of Ole women breaststrokers who have all proved to be very competitive. Krista Dannamen (SR, St. Cloud, MN) captured first place honors for the Ole women in the 200 breaststroke in Friday night?s competition with a time of 2:38.27. The Ole men?s 400 freestyle relay ended the meet with yet another first place finish. The team of Brent, Connelly, Garrett, and Thomsen finished into the wall first with a time of 3:18.26.

The Ole divers had another successful evening of diving. Gabe Kortuem (SR, Andover, MN) took first places honors in both rounds of diving on the 1 meter board for the men with scores of 193.45 for his voluntary dives and 284.30 for his optional dives. Kortuem?s total score of 477.75 exceeded the national qualifying standard, once again. Alicia Fox (FR, Minnetonka, MN) placed in first in the 1 meter voluntary competition for the Ole women with a score of 165.45, then teammate Stacy Koskiniemi (JR, Blaine, MN) took first place honors in the 1 meter optionals competition with a score of 175.50. The Ole teams? continued hard work and dedication gave its rewards once again in Friday night?s meet. Both the men and women?s teams proved to be tough competitors, and came away from the meet with another conference win. The final score for the men?s side was St. Olaf 129 points and St. Thomas 61 points. On the women?s side the final score was St. Olaf 131 points and St. Thomas 79 points.

Contact Kurt Anderson at 507-786-3315 or anderk@stolaf.edu.