MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The St. Olaf College men's swimming and diving team was second and the women's team was tied for fifth after the opening night of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Championships on Wednesday night at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center.

The St. Olaf men had a pair of All-MIAC performances on the opening night of the meet to compile 90 points in the team standings, while the women picked up 56 points from their two relays to tie for fifth in the early stages. On the men's side, the Oles trailed only Gustavus Adolphus College's total of 114 points.

The women were tied with the College of Saint Benedict as the Oles and Bennies were 18 points behind Macalester College's total of 74 points. The opening night of the meet consisted of the prelims and finals of the men's three-meter diving, as well as the 200-yard medley relay and 800-yard freestyle relay.

Senior Oscar Hanifl earned the second All-MIAC accolade of his collegiate career with a runner-up finish in the men's three-meter diving with a score of 426.65 across his 11 dives in the finals. The senior qualified second in the prelims with a score of 415.95 before improving by over 10 points in the finals. Hanifl was third in the event in 2022. First year Wyatt Gabrielson also scored in the event in eighth place with a total of 358.35 points.

St. Olaf's other All-MIAC performance came from the men's 200-yard medley relay of senior Marcus Hauck, senior Jaden Chant, senior Daniel Bloedow, and sophomore William Wallace as the quartet finished second in 1:33.13. After entering the meet with the No. 4 seed time among the five competing schools, the Oles shaved nearly five seconds off the seed time to claim second, edging Carleton College by four one-hundredths of a second at the wall.

The St. Olaf women posted an Honorable Mention All-MIAC result in the 800-yard freestyle relay by placing fourth in 7:52.51 with the quartet of first year Alana Schmitzer, senior Tatum Hauck, senior Rachel Stumpf, and senior Charlotte Thomson. Bloedow, Chant, sophomore Aiden Yung, and sophomore Nick Starcevich were fifth in the men's 800-yard freestyle relay in 7:09.10, which marked an improvement of nearly 15 seconds from their seed time.

Stumpf, Schmitzer, junior Ellen Varley, and first year Samantha Sylvester swam to a sixth-place finish in the women's 200-yard medley relay in 1:48.51 earlier in the night.

The first of three full days of the meet gets under way on Thursday, Feb. 15 with a prelims session at 10:30 a.m. and concludes with a finals session at 6:30 p.m.