St. Cloud State vs St. Thomas
- November 11, 2023
- St. Paul, Minn.
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results
Courtesy: St. Cloud State Athletics
ST. CLOUD, MINN. – The St. Cloud State Men’s and Women’s Swim & Dive teams earn dual victories at their meet against St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. The Huskies swept the competition at the meet, earning 27 first-place finishes, the men taking top marks in all 16 events, and the women coming in first in 11.
TEAM SCORES
- Women: 181-118
- Men: 182-110
TOP HUSKIES
- Junior Kendall Gonzalez won both the women’s sprint events, 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle in 24.37 and 53.38 respectively.
- Freshman Reid Tigges takes his first double victory in his collegiate career winning the men’s sprint events blasting a 20.90 in the 50-yard freestyle and a 46.45 in the 100-yard freestyle.
- Junior Dylan Apicello picked up a win in men’s 3M diving (282.55) while Freshman teammate Jimmy Nord won men’s 1M diving (290.45).
- Fifth Year Jayden Porter tops the men’s breaststroke events finishing the 100-yard breaststroke in a blazing 55.06 and 200-yard breaststroke in 2:05.78.
- Senior Raf Hendriks takes the win in both the men’s 100-yard and 200-yard backstrokes going 48.06 and 1:45.30 respectively – both times posting second overall in Division 2 so far this season.
- Junior Meredith Bangs won both the women’s 200-yard freestyle (1:55.34) and the women’s 200-yard individual medley (2:09.76).
- Sophomore Ben Thompson won the men’s 200-yard and 500-yard freestyles in a 1:41.86 and 4:42.53 respectively.
NEXT UP:
The Huskies will take on the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire at home Friday, November 17th. During this meet the Huskies will honor their seniors and parents.
Courtesy: Tommie Sports
ST. PAUL, MINN. – It seems like forever and a day since the University of St. Thomas swim and dive team competed in its own pool. The Tommies returned to AARC Poll and Aquatic Center on Saturday for a dual against the St. Cloud State University Huskies. In a tightly contested competition, St. Thomas claimed first place in eight different events, with the women claiming five first place finishes and the men three. Though the two teams put together strong performances, the Huskies came out on top against both the men and the women Saturday afternoon.,
MEN’S RESULTS: St. Thomas (110) vs. St. Cloud State (182)
The Tommies saved their best performances for last on Saturday, as they swept the top-3 places in the 100 butterfly, 200 IM and 200 Freestyle Relay. Morgan Gillard (Woodbury, Minn. / East Ridge) claimed St. Thomas’ first individual win of the afternoon in the 100 butterfly in dramatic fashion. After finishing fourth in both the 200 fly and 100 freestyle, Gillard broke through in the 100 fly, finishing in first place with a time of 51.98. Teammates Philip Jensen (Hastings, Minn. / Hastings) and Blake Baertlein (Eagle, Wis. / Waukesha South) were not far behind, finishing in second and third respectively with times of 52.05 and 52.36 respectively.
The Tommies also swept the top-3 spots in the 200 IM and were led by freshman Charlie Folks (Eden Prairie, Minn. / Eden Prairie). The Minnesota native swam to a first place finish thanks to a time of 2:00.42, just missing the two minute mark. Teammates Thomson Yatso (Milwaukee, Wis. / Shorewood) and Tommy Seiler (Menomonee Falls, Wis. / Menomonee Falls) completed the St. Thomas sweep. Yatso carded a second place finish with a time of 2:00.56 while Seiler finished third with a time of 2:05.49.
The 200 yard freestyle proved to be the most thrilling race of the afternoon for St. Thomas. The Tommies “A” and “B” teams were neck and neck through the first three legs of the event, providing plenty of drama for fans in attendance. Thanks to outstanding swims by Baertlein and Jensen, the St. Thomas “B” team held the slightest advantage over the “S” team, though Nick Welle (Alexandria, Minn. / Alexandra) made up for that during his leg of the race. The sophomore clocked a time of 20.94 during his third leg swim, pulling the “A” team even with the “B” team. From there, it was up to Alex Foti (Waukesha, Wis. / Waukesha West) and AJ Carollo (Long Grove, Ill. / Stevenson) to determine the victory. After a brilliant swim, it looked like Foti out touched Carollo at the wall, but the times for both teams read 1:26.23, resulting in a first place tie for the two teams.
In addition to his swim in the 200 freestyle relay, Foti put together another strong day in the pool, anchoring the third place 400 medley relay team and earning two top-3 finishes as an individual. The sophomore finished third in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:43.56 before finishing second in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:43.02.
WOMEN’S RESULTS: St. Thomas (118) vs. St. Cloud State (181)
The St. Thomas women’s swim and dive team put together one of its best outings of the 2023-24 season, winning five events and sweeping both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving competitions for the first time all season. First year Hattie Opdahl (Lindstrom, Minn. / Chisago Lakes) made a splash in her return to the AARC Pool and Aquatic Center by winning both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving competitions. Opdahl opened her day with a season best performance on 3-meter, winning the six dive competition with a score of 235.05. The first year followed up that performance with a first place finish in the 1-meter competition as well, earning a six-dive score of 230.65 to win the event by nearly 15 points.
Opdahl wasn’t the only Tommie to find success in the pool on Saturday. Grace Forsberg (Rice Lake, Wis. / Rice Lake) was the first St. Thomas swimmer to win an individual event on Saturday, winning the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:00.99. She would go on to finish third in the 100 freestyle with a time of 55.23 and was the anchor for the second place 200 freestyle relay team consisting of Elizabeth Bonneville (Lakeville, Minn. / Lakeville South), Ella Palmquist (Dundas, Minn. / Northfield) and Libby Fischer (Eagan, Minn. / Visitation).
Grace Urkiel (Rosemount, Minn. / Rosemount) continued her strong start to the 2023-24 season, winning the 100 breaststroke and earning top-2 finishes in the 400 medley relay, 200 breaststroke and 200 IM. The senior won her premiere event, the 100 breaststroke, with a time of 1:05.50, beating the runner up by nearly a full second. She was .3 seconds away from sweeping the breaststroke events but was just out touched at the wall, finishing second in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:27.35. Urkiel rounded out her day with a second place finish in the 200 IM thanks to a time of 2:14.50.
Emily Wooden (Chino Hills, Calif. / Ayala) was the final St. Thomas swimmer to win an individual event on Saturday, as she finished first in the 100 butterfly with a time of 1:00.59. Her teammates Caroline Peterson (Northfield, Minn. / Northfield) and Lily Linden (Rochester, Minn. / Century) finished second and third in the event with times of 1:01.51 and 1:01.55 respectively.
UP NEXT
The Tommies will hit the road for their next competition, as they are set to compete at the University of Chicago’s Phoenix Fall Classic November 17-19. Prelims are set to begin at 10:00 a.m. CT on Friday and every day thereafter.
