By Emma Foster, Swimming World College Intern
On the first night of the MIAC Swimming and Diving Championships, St. Thomas finished with a flurry, winning the men’s 400 medley relay and crushing the previous meet record, set by St. Olaf in 2014. St. Thomas swam a 3:19.98 with the team of Tom Osmolak (50.56) Maxwell Hamilton (55.97), Michael Lanz (48.30) and Bailey Biwer (45.15) to upstage the previous record of 3:20.20. St. Olaf was second in 3:24.80, and Carleton was third in 3:25.26.
In the women’s 200 free relay, Gustavus just outtouched St. Thomas with a solid swim of 1:34.05 with the team of Kathleen Reilly (23.25), Maggie Webster (23.36), Nicole Lohman (24.16), and Tarin Anding (23.28). St. Thomas’s team was just behind in 1:34.53, while Carleton was third in 1:36.43.
On the men’s side, Carleton took the gold with the team of Stephen Grinich (20.80), Karl Schwarzkopf (20.34), Wilson Josephson (20.86) and George McAneny (20.41) for a time of 1:22.41. St. Thomas took the silver in 1:23.80, while Gustavus was third in 1:25.27.
In the women’s 500 free, St. Thomas freshman Kately Strauss won the event in 5:01.24. Linnea Rizzo of Gustavus was second in 5:05.32, while Alex Howard of St. Thomas was third in 5:06.33.
Warren Melton of St. Thomas won the men’s 500 free in a time of 4:34.34. He won the event by over 5 seconds, and was fast enough to earn his NCAA B-cut. Melton was followed by Chris Tri of St. Thomas who posted a time of 4:39.72. His teammate Brady Anderson was third 4:40.60.
In the women’s 200 IM, Hayley Booher of Gustavus and Nicole Herrli of St. Thomas both achieved their NCAA B-cuts. Booher won the event of the time of 2:05.84, while Herrli was second in 2:06.62. Maria Wetzel of Carleton was third in 2:07.87.
Michael Lanz of St. Thomas won the men’s 200 IM with a time of 1:52.55. Teammate Bailey Biwer was second in 1:53.98. Jose Alvarez was third in 1:54.37.
In the women’s 50 free, Emma Paulson was first in 22.86, which was just two-hundredths off of a NCAA A cut. Kathleen Reilly of Gustavus was second in 23.37, while Caroline Mather of Carleton was third in 23.79. All three women claimed B-cuts.
On the men’s side, Stephen Grinich of Carleton won with a B-cut qualification, with a time of 20.59. Schwarzkopf of Carleton was second in 20.89, while Paul Knaak of St. John’s was third in 20.90.
In the men’s 1-mtr dive event, Andrew Grabowski of St. Thomas was first with 430.34 points. Scott Hodgson of St. Olaf was second in 429.85. Justin Wollin of St. John’s was third with 395.45 points.
In the women’s 400 medley relay, St. Thomas took the gold with the team of Emma Paulson (54.81) Molly Peichel (1:05.61) Katelyn Strauss (56.71) and Alex Howard (52.11) in 3:49.24. St. Olaf was second in 3:53.21, while Gustavus was third 3:54.03.
