NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The St. Olaf College men's and women's swimming diving teams were narrowly defeated by visiting Macalester College in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) duals on Saturday at Skoglund Natatorium.
The St. Olaf women were edged 153-147 by the Scots despite winning 10 events, while the men had seven first-place performances in a 150-128 defeat. During the meet, the Oles recognized their five-member senior class of
Marcus Hauck,
Ben Gusdal,
Avery Nevins,
Lexi Cucchiaro, and
Ellen Varley, who were competing in the final home meet of their careers.
Days after being named the MIAC Women's Diver of the Week, first year
Erica Johnson won both sessions of the one-meter diving for St. Olaf, posting a total score of 394.35 on 11 dives, which was just 0.65 points shy of the NCAA qualifying standard and ranks seventh on St. Olaf's all-time list.
In addition to Johnson's performances on the board, sophomore
Katie Homme, first year
Olivia Small, and junior
Paige Steenblock all won multiple events for the Oles. Small led the way with three event victories by winning the 100-yard backstroke (59.26), 200-yard backstroke (2:10.46), and 100-yard butterfly (1:01.11).
Homme swept the 100-yard freestyle (54.86) and 200-yard freestyle (1:59.33), while Steenblock was the first to touch the wall in the 200-yard butterfly (2:14.72) and 400-yard individual medley (4:43.28). Small and Homme also swam on St. Olaf's first-place 200-yard medley relay (1:49.96) along with Varley and sophomore
Samantha Sylvester.
Junior
Nick Starcevich was part of four first-place swims for the St. Olaf men, winning the 50-yard freestyle (21.70) and 100-yard freestyle (47.92) in addition to a pair of relay titles. Starcevich was joined by Hauck, sophomore
Jack Homme, and junior
William Wallace on the 200-yard medley relay (1:38.83) and first year
Dobbin Chong, Homme, and first year
Travis Elling on the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:16.56).
Hauck, Elling, and Homme also won individual events for the Oles. Elling took first in the 1,000-yard freestyle (10:35.80), Hauck won the 200-yard backstroke (2:05.59), and Homme posted the top time in the 100-yard butterfly (53.75).
St. Olaf will head to Decorah, Iowa for double duals against Luther College and Loras College on Saturday, Jan. 25 at 1 p.m.
