The St. Olaf men’s and women’s swimming and dive teams opened their seasons on Oct. 25 at the St. Thomas Relays, an unscored meet.
The Oles won the first event of the day, with strong performances by Abe Casey ’19, Nick Wilkerson ’17, Claire Waters ’17 and Marla Thomforde ’16 in the 200 co-ed medley relay, finishing with a final time of 1:43.20.
The men’s team found victory in both the 300 breast relay, swam by Nathan France ’17, Chad Ray ’16, Gus Reynolds ’19 and Wilkerson, and the 4×100 individual medley relay, swam by Andrew France ’17, Reynolds, Bobby Schultze ’17 and Wilkerson. The Oles also finished second in the 800 freestyle relay, led by Dmitriy Pelutis ’19, Schultze, Brodie Thiede ’19 and France with a final time of 7:25.71. The 400 free relay team, consisting of Pelutis, France, Jack Welsh ’19 and Casey, also finished second. Scott Hodgson ’16 led the divers with a first place finish in the 3-meter competition and a second place finish in the 1-meter competition.
The women’s team also had success at the meet, with a first place finish in the 400 free relay, with Walters, Maddie Lee ’16, Thomforde and Kelly Punyko ’19 finishing with a final time of 3:42.83. The Oles also finished first in the 4×100 individual medley relay, with Megan Gaylord ’16, Lee, Kristen Rudberg ’16 and Punyko competing. Lee, Erin Martin ’19, Thomforde and Walters finished second in the 800 free relay with an overall time of 8:25.16. The Oles finished second in the 200 free relay, consisting of Lee, Gaylord, Nina McLarnan ’18 and Thomforde. Courtney Miller ’17 led the divers, winning the 3-meter competition and coming in a close second in the 1-meter competition.
Both teams’ next competition will be at the Northfield Colleges Quad Classic on Oct. 31.
