The 2017 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Women's Swimming and Diving Championships concluded Saturday at the University of Minnesota's Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center with the coronation of the University of St. Thomas women for the second-straight season, as well as several outstanding performances to put an exclamation mark on a tremendous three-day event.
Prior to the 2015-16 season, the St. Thomas women had never won a MIAC swimming and diving championship. My, how times have changed. After another impressive performance, Head Coach Scott Blanchard's Tommies won their second title in as many years and have joined a select group of just five programs to have won multiple MIAC women's swimming and diving championships. UST's latest crown saw the team amass 908 total points and win by a margin of 259.5 points over the rest of the field.
The Tommies took home more hardware as star senior Emma Paulson received her second-straight MIAC Women's Swimmer-of-the-Year award. Individually, three was the magic number for the reigning National Swimmer-of-the-Year, as Paulson won third-straight MIAC titles in the 50-yard freestyle (23.02) and the 100- (55.39) and 200-yard backstroke (1:58.80) events, with NCAA 2016 Selection Times in all three races and a new meet record in the 200-back. Paulson also helped St. Thomas set a new MIAC record of 1:33.49 (ST16) while winning the 200-yard freestyle relay, and she also swam on victorious 400-yard freestyle (3:27.48, ST16) and 200- (1:43.71, ST16) and 400-yard medley relay (3:48.09, ST16) teams. Essentially, Paulson was a perfect 7-for-7, with each event she entered winning and meeting the 2016 NCAA Selection time.
Diver-of-the-Year honors went to another familiar name, as St. Catherine's Jenna Nagy won the honor for the third time in her career. She was named the MIAC's top diver in 2014 and 2015, then capped her career with the award one more time in 2017. Nagy swept the MIAC titles on both boards, winning the 1-meter title Saturday with a stirring finals performance and a score of 438.35, to add to the 3-meter title she won (451.75) earlier in the weekend. Both scores were NCAA A Qualifying marks.
Nagy's coach, Jake Dunn, was honored by his peers as the 2017 MIAC Diving Coach-of-the-Year, and Women's Swimming Coach-of-the-Year honors were presented to Carleton's Andy Clark for his role in guiding the Knights to a top-three finish, with several impressive individual and relay performances.
After the Tommies, Gustavus finished solidly in second place in the final team standings with a total of 684.5 points. Clark's Carleton team rounded out the top three, edging Northfield rival St. Olaf 477-448. St. Catherine (282) just barely edged Saint Benedict (273.5) for fifth place. Macalester's 191 points were good for sixth, Hamline scored 151 to finish seventh and Concordia (127), Augsburg (89) and Saint Mary's (82) rounded out the rest of the standings.
In addition to Nagy's outstanding performance on the 1-meter board, the final women's diving event saw great scores throughout the finals. St. Olaf's Courtney Miller – last year's Diver-of-the-Year and defending 1-meter champ – also met the NCAA A Qualifying standard with a great score of 409.05. Augsburg's Madeline Moser totaled 373.50 points for a B Qualifying score and one of the Auggies' top highlights of the weekend. Divers 2-through-8 all posted B Qualifying marks.
The first swimming event saw a standout performance from a first-year swimmer, as St. Olaf's Caitlin Croasdell won the 1,650-yard freestyle with a B-cut time of 17:30.66. The other two All-Conference spots went to Gustavus sophomore Linnea Rizzo (17:40.65) – the defending champ in the event – and Sydney Hallmark (17:54.05). In fact, Gusties occupied spots 2-through-5 and they had five of the top eight.
In addition to Paulson's record-setting brilliance in the 200-back, another pair of decorated seniors also starred in a loaded field. Carleton's Maria Wetzel was the runner up with a B-cut time of 2:03.49, and Gustavus' Hayley Booher finished third with a time of 2:06.76. The championship heat saw three Tommies finish in the top six.
The women's 100-yard freestyle saw a trio of outstanding performances atop the medal stand, led by champion Caroline Mather of Carleton and her winning time of 51.44. Just 0.12 seconds back was St. Olaf's Claire Walters and defending champ Kate Reilly of Gustavus was third with a time of 52.00. All three All-Conference swimmers met the NCAA B cut time.
St. Thomas' Nicole Herrli helped her team win the title by claiming her second-straight championship in the women's 200-yard breaststroke. Herrli repeated in the event thanks to a B-cut time of 2:21.46. Carleton rookie Ada Meyer continued her outstanding MIAC debut by swimming second in 2:24.26, and UST first-year Deidree Voss was right behind Meyer in third (2:24.33). Herrli and Voss led a group of six Tommies in the top eight.
One of the top individual moments of the 2017 Championships came in the women's 200-yard butterfly, as St. Thomas sophomore Katelyn Strauss shattered the previous MIAC and meet record of 2:06.45 with her time of 2:03.61, which met a 2016 Selection Time. Fellow UST swimmer Kirsten Nelson was second with a time of 2:09.51, and St. Olaf's Helen Jensen was third with a time of 2:11.28.
The meet ended the same way it began – with a St. Thomas relay win. The Tommies made it a clean sweep of all five relays with a victory in the 400-yard freestyle relay as Tiana Molitor, Emma Paulson, Kate Smarjesse and Kate Reilly combined for a 2016 NCAA Selection Time of 3:27.48. St. Olaf also met the NCAA Selection Time in second with a mark of 3:28.29, and Carleton came in third, finishing in 3:33.31.
Following each of Saturday evening's races, a short awards ceremony was held to honor the top eight finishers. The top three finishers in each event received medals and automatically earn All-Conference honors. Saturday's All-Conference honorees are listed below. Following the conclusion of the meet, there was an awards ceremony to honor the All-Sportsmanship Team, individual award-winners and team champions. The MIAC will have a full breakdown of the 2017 MIAC Swimming and Diving awards on its web site next week.
Fans can re-live all the action from an incredible three days via the 2017 MIAC Swimming & Diving Championships home page, which includes results, recaps, photos and more. Fans can also watch all six sessions on demand or order DVDs of the video webcast courtesy of Webcast America. Fans can continue the conversation on social media via the MIAC's Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube pages and the official event hashtag #MIACSD.
The MIAC thanks its gracious host, the University of Minnesota and the entire staff at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center. The MIAC also thanks host schools Augsburg and Carleton, The Commons Hotel, Elsmore Swim Shop, Webcast America, Meet Manager Dave Luedtke and all the officials, announcers, timers and volunteers.
For the third-straight season, the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Men's Swimming and Diving Championships concluded with the University of St. Thomas hoisting the championship trophy. Saturday's final session at the University of Minnesota's Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center saw UST put the finishing touches on a dominant performance, as well as impressive times and scores from around the MIAC.
The convincing win resulted in the St. Thomas men's three-peat, and the Tommies have now won five titles since 2010. UST's latest title saw them steadily build and increase their lead over the field throughout the championships. Head Coach Scott Blanchard's team finished with 910 points and won by a margin of 257 points. It's the 14th overall men's swimming and diving conference title for the Tommies, which is the fourth-best total in the MIAC.
UST diver Andrew Grabowski added more hardware to the Tommie trophy case, as the junior was named MIAC Men's Diver-of-the-Year for the third-straight season. Thursday he captured his second-straight MIAC title on the 1-meter board with an NCAA A Qualifying Score of 472.05, and he was even better Saturday. Grabowski put the finishing touches on a remarkable performance with a score of 522.10 to claim his third-straight MIAC title on the 3-meter board by more than 100 points, and cement another overall diving honor. Both met the NCAA A Qualifying standard.
Men's Swimmer-of-the-Year honors went to Gustavus sophomore Tanner Sonnek, who had a brilliant individual performance throughout the three days. Sonnek set a new meet record with a 2016 NCAA Selection Time of 55.10 to win the 100-yard breaststroke, he added another win in the 200-yard individual medley (1:53.06) and Saturday he repeated as the 100-yard breaststroke champ with a 2016 Selection Time of 2:02.12. Sonnek also led a quartet of Gustie relay teams to All-Conference (top three) honors – the 200- (second place, 1:23.01) and 400-yard (3:07.39) freestyle relays (second place, 1:23.01) and the 200- (1:33.96) and 400-yard (3:25.40) medley relays.
Sonnek's Gusties were the runner-up to St. Thomas with 653 points. St. Olaf joined the top three with a score of 589, and Saint John's (456 points) and Carleton (346 points) rounded out the top five. Hamline finished sixth with a score of 223, Macalester (186) was seventh and Saint Mary's (104) finished eighth.
In addition to the Swimmer- and Diver-of-the-Year awards, coaches and the All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team were also recognized. Blanchard received the Men's Swimming Coach-of-the-Year honor for his role in the Tommies' third-straight title, and St. Catherine's Jake Dunn was awarded the MIAC Diving Coach-of-the-Year award.
Macalester's top highlight of the Championships came early Saturday as sophomore Paul Reischmann won the MIAC title in the 1,650-yard freestyle. His time of 16:05.02 met the NCAA B cut. Runner-up Bobby Schultze of St. Olaf also met the B cut with a time of 1:52.80, and the defending champ in the event – St. Thomas' Warren Melton – was third with a time of 16:27.46.
St. Olaf rookie John Loepfe continued a breakout performance in his first MIAC Championships with a win in the 200-yard backstroke. His winning time of 1:49.44 met the NCAA B cut. St. Thomas' Tom Negaard was second with a time of 1:52.80 and St. Olaf's Abe Eyman Casey put another Ole in the top three with his time of 1:53.76.
The men's 100-yard freestyle was one of the most entertaining events of the night, and a fitting conclusion to the MIAC career of Saint John's Kenny Bergman. The senior won his third-straight MIAC 100-free title with a B-cut time of 45.36, holding off Gustavus rookie Matt Allison (45.43, B cut) and a quartet of talented St. Thomas swimmers, led by Nick Cox (46.19) and Bailey Biwer (46.48) to complete the three-peat.
The men's 200-yard breaststroke saw Gustavus sophomore Tanner Sonnek continue his outstanding meet with his third win of the weekend. He repeated in the event with a 2016 NCAA Selection Time of 2:02.12. A pair of Oles joined Sonnek atop the podium, as Gus Reynolds (2:07.10) was second and Nathaniel France (2:07.34) was third. UST occupied three of the next four spots on the leader board.
The men's 200-yard butterfly finals helped serve as a coronation for St. Thomas, as the Tommies swept the top three spots and four of the top five. Brady Anderson won with a time of 1:55.30, with teammates Omar Omar (1:55.80) and Max Larson (1:56.03) close behind in second and third, respectively.
In addition to Grabowski's brilliance on the 3-meter diving board, each of the other seven divers in the finals met the NCAA B Qualifying standard. St. Olaf sophomore Leif Jorgensen Duus finished second with a score of 421.95, and Gustavus rookie Josh Theis led a quartet of Gusties in the top seven with a score of 394.20.
St. Thomas finished off its title by completing a sweep of all five relays. UST won the final event of the meet – the 400-yard freestyle relay – as Nick Cox, Tom Negaard, Bailey Biwer and Mike Solfelt finished with a B-cut time of 3:03.92. Saint John's was second with a time of 3:05.97 and Gustavus was third with a time of 3:07.39.
Following each of Saturday evening's races, a short awards ceremony was held to honor the top eight finishers. The top three finishers in each event received medals and automatically earn All-Conference honors. Saturday's All-Conference honorees are listed below. Following the conclusion of the meet, there was an awards ceremony to honor the All-Sportsmanship Team, individual award-winners and team champions. The MIAC will have a full breakdown of the 2017 MIAC Swimming and Diving awards on its web site next week.
Fans can re-live all the action from an incredible three days via the 2017 MIAC Swimming & Diving Championships home page, which includes results, recaps, photos and more. Fans can also watch all six sessions on demand or order DVDs of the video webcast courtesy of Webcast America. Fans can continue the conversation on social media via the MIAC's Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube pages and the official event hashtag #MIACSD.
The MIAC thanks its gracious host, the University of Minnesota and the entire staff at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center. The MIAC also thanks host schools Augsburg and Carleton, The Commons Hotel, Elsmore Swim Shop, Webcast America, Meet Manager Dave Luedtke and all the officials, announcers, timers and volunteers.
