MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – Maria Newton, Helen Jensen, Maya Knutson and Marissa Wolff shattered the school record in the 800-yard freestyle relay to highlight the St. Olaf College men's and women's swimming & diving teams' performance on the first day of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Swimming and Diving Championships on Wednesday evening at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center.

Newton, Jensen, Knutson and Wolff's time of 7:31.13 seconds was over five-and-a-half seconds faster than the previous record set in 2013 and was good for second in the event. The St. Kate's relay of Amelia Baxley, Sydney Grohman, Maggie Menso and Jordyn Wentzel set a new MIAC and championship mark on its way to winning the event in 7:29.60.

St. Olaf's time of 7:31.13 was also eight seconds under the NCAA B qualifying time, four seconds under the 2019 selection time and under the previous MIAC record.

The record-setting relay helped the women into a three-way tie for second after day one, as the Oles are tied with Gustavus and St. Thomas on 64 points, 16 behind St. Catherine. The men sit fourth with 73 points, trailing Gustavus (118), Saint John's (116) and St. Thomas (90).

On the men's side, the quarter of John Loepfe, Ian Kretzmann, Tim Rizzo and Sjon Greseth took third in both the 200-yard medley relay (1:34.00) and 800-yard freestyle relay (7:02.34), bettering their seed time in the 800 free relay by nearly 10 seconds in the 800 free relay and nearly four seconds in the 200 medley relay.

The women's 200-yard medley relay of Annika Cleven, Sophia Nevin, Newton and Wolff took fourth (1:47.29), over five seconds ahead of their seed time.

Harris Kramer earned St. Olaf nine points with his ninth-place finish in the three-meter dive (266.90).

The meet continues with two more sessions apiece on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with morning sessions at 10:30 a.m. and evening sessions at 6:30 p.m.