ST. PAUL, Minn. – The St. Olaf College men's and women's swimming and diving teams began their seasons at the St. Kate's Pentathlon and Hamline Diving Invitational on Saturday at Butler Center Pool and Bush Center Pool.
St. Olaf's swimmers started their seasons at the St. Kate's Pentathlon, which consisted of the 100-yard butterfly, 100-yard backstroke, 100-yard individual medley, 100-yard breaststroke, and 100-yard freestyle. Swimmers' scores from each individual event made up their total score across the five events.
On the men's side, St. Olaf and Hamline were the lone two teams to compete, and the Oles accounted for the top-11 individual finishers. Junior
Aiden Yung led the way with 103 points, followed closely by first year
Dobbin Chong just two points behind. Yung won the 100-yard butterfly (55.02) and the 100-yard breaststroke (1:03.07) and was second in the 100-yard backstroke (57.42) and the 100-yard individual medley (57.09). Chong won the 100-yard individual medley (57.03) and the 100-yard freestyle (51.05), was second in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:03.18), and placed third in the 100-yard butterfly (56.28).
Junior
Nick Starcevich, fifth-year senior
Marcus Hauck, and sophomore
Jack Homme were separated by just five points in third through fifth, respectively. Hauck posted the top time of the day in the 100-yard backstroke (56.27) to give the Oles first-place finishes in all five events.
The women's competition included St. Olaf, St. Catherine University, Concordia-Moorhead, and Hamline, as the Oles had four swimmers in the top 10. Sophomore
Samantha Sylvester was St. Olaf's top finisher in fifth with 251.50 points, with sophomore
Katie Homme just a half point behind in sixth. Sylvester placed in the top eight in each of the five events, while Homme recorded the Oles' top placement of the day with a runner-up performance in the 100-yard freestyle (56.33). First year
Olivia Small was seventh (241) and junior
Paige Steenblock was eighth (219.50) as well.
St. Olaf also had four women's divers compete on the one-meter board at Hamline. Junior
Zibby Hanifl registered the top six-dive score of the day (180.0), followed by first year
Emma Haines (179.25). First year
Erica Johnson took fourth (173.05) and first year
Savannah Carr was sixth (133.10).
The Oles will be in action next at the Northfield Colleges Quad Classic on Saturday, Oct. 26 at 11 a.m. Swimming will take place at Northfield Middle School and diving will be at Carleton College's Thorpe Pool.
