St. Thomas vs Green Bay
- October 6, 2023
- St. Paul, Minn.
- SCY (25 yards)
- Results
Courtesy: St. Thomas Athletics
ST. PAUL, MINN. – It was a busy opening weekend for the University of St. Thomas men’s and women’s swim and dive teams. The Tommies participated in two dual meets over opening weekend, traveling to Green Bay, Wisconsin on Friday before returning home to host Augustana University on Saturday. Over the course of two days, St. Thomas found plenty of success in the pool, as both teams earned at least one win over the weekend. The Tommies women’s swim and dive team opened the season with a 172.5-126.5 win over Green Bay before dropping a close 115-92 contest to the Vikings on Saturday. The men were mere points away from earning their first victory in Green Bay, falling 154-146 on Friday before rebounding with a dominant 128-79 win over Augustana on Saturday.
WOMEN’S RECAP: ST. THOMAS (172.5) vs. GREEN BAY (126.5)
St. Thomas won 10 events Friday afternoon, spurring the team to a 172.5-126.5 victory over the Phoenix in the first meet of 2023-24. Senior Grace Urkiel (Rosemount, Minn. / Rosemount) played a hand in four of those wins, as she was a member of two first place relay teams and won two races as an individual. She, along with Sophie Curran (Minneapolis, Minn. / Edina), Hanna Ryan (Blaine, Minn. / Blaine) and Megan West (Shoreview, Minn. / Mounds View) won the first race of the dual with a time of 1:50.41, earning 11 points towards the team’s overall score.
After being a part of the 200 medley relay team, Urkiel went on to sweep the breaststroke races, taking first place in both the 100 and 200. The senior won both races by over two seconds, claiming first in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:06.60 before winning the 200 in equally dominant fashion, clocking a time of 2:28.99 to win the race by nearly three full seconds. She then swam the anchor leg for the 200 freestyle relay team, securing victory with her teammates Grace Forsberg (Rice Lake, Wis. / Rice Lake), Ella Palmquist (Dundas, Minn. / Northfield) and Libby Fischer (Eagan, Minn. / Visitation) and a time of 1:39.89.
In addition to Urkiel, several other swimmers and divers found success in Wisconsin, including Fischer who also won four events Friday afternoon. In addition to being a part of both the 200 Medley and Freestyle relay teams, Fischer won the 100 backstroke and 50 freestyle in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Fischer was the only swimmer to clock a time under one minute in the 100 backstroke, securing a first place finish with a time of 59.86. She then went on to beat her teammate by the narrowest of margins, claiming first place in the 50 free with a time of 25.14.
Sophie Hayes (Naperville, Ill. / Central) dazzled in her first meet as a Tommie Friday afternoon. In her collegiate debut, Hayes won the 200 and 500 freestyle races, setting collegiate best times of 1:58.18 and 5:17.69 respectively. She was also a member of the third place 200 freestyle relay team, with earned two points toward the overall team score thanks to their time of 1:42.13.
St. Thomas found plenty of success on the boards as well as in the pool, as the Tommies claimed first place in both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving competitions. First year Hattie Opdahl (Lindstrom, Minn. / Chisago Lakes) made quite the splash in her first collegiate meet, sweeping the diving events with six dive scores over 200. Opdahl won the 1-meter competition with a score of 221.56 before claiming the 3-meter title with a score of 205.68.
ST. PAUL, MINN. – It was a busy opening weekend for the University of St. Thomas men’s and women’s swim and dive teams. The Tommies participated in two dual meets over opening weekend, traveling to Green Bay, Wisconsin on Friday before returning home to host Augustana University on Saturday. Over the course of two days, St. Thomas found plenty of success in the pool, as both teams earned at least one win over the weekend. The Tommies women’s swim and dive team opened the season with a 172.5-126.5 win over Green Bay before dropping a close 115-92 contest to the Vikings on Saturday. The men were mere points away from earning their first victory in Green Bay, falling 154-146 on Friday before rebounding with a dominant 128-79 win over Augustana on Saturday.
MEN’S RECAP: ST. THOMAS (146) vs. GREEN BAY (154)
St. Thomas got off to a strong start at Green Bay, winning six individual races and seeing multiple top-3 finishes. Alex Foti (Waukesha, Wis. / West) and Philip Jensen (Hastings, Minn. / Hastings) won multiple events in the pool Friday afternoon, as the two swimmers won two races a piece. Foti swept the distance freestyle races, claiming first place in both the 1000 and 500 races. The junior earned a first place finish in the 1000 free with a time of 10:00.53 before following it up with a first place time of 4:47.25 in the 500 free later that afternoon. Foti was also a member of the second place 200 freestyle relay team, which clocked a time of 1:27.05 in the event.
Jensen also had an afternoon to remember, winning both the 100 and 200 backstroke as an individual before finishing second in the 200 yard freestyle relay. The sophomore claimed the top spot in the 100 back with a time of 51.18 and earned the sweep with a 1:55.88 time in the 200 race later on.
Sean Bannon (Rochester, Minn.) and Nicholas Salido (Kansas City, Mo. / Rockhurst) were the final two Tommies to earn first place finishes in the pool on Friday. Bannon claimed the top spot in the 100 breaststroke, earning the win with a time of 1:00.12. He finished second in the 200 breaststroke, clocking in with a time of 2:15.03.
Salido was the fastest swimmer in the pool on Friday, as he won the 50 freestyle with a blistering time of 22.00. He also finished second in the 100 free with a time of 49.28 and was a member of the second place 200 freestyle relay team.
All three St. Thomas divers scored points on the boards Friday afternoon. Ben Linde (Andover, Minn. / Andover) was the highest finisher for the Tommies in both the 1-meter and 3-meter competitions, finishing second in both. The sophomore earned a score of 233.85 on the 1-meter board before following it up with a 210.09 performance on the 3-meter board. Austin Kantor (Elk River, Minn. / Elk River) finished third in the 3-meter competition thanks to his score of 177.75.
Courtesy: Green Bay Athletics
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Friday afternoon, the Green Bay swim and dive team opened the season with a meet against St. Thomas at the Peter F. Dorschel Natatorium. St. Thomas was able to edge out the Phoenix 318.5 points to 280.5. However, the men defeated St. Thomas 154-146, while the women came up short 172.5 points to 126.5.
MEN’S EVENTS
Green Bay dominated the 200-yard medley relay, with three of the top four finishing teams all representing the Green and White. Aaron Klym led the first-place squad, while Calvin Kremer paced the second-place finisher. Eli Zimmerman guided the team that placed fourth. John Burnard led the way in the 100-yard freestyle, placing third with a time of 10:11.02. He finished just one point back of second place. The Tommies’ Alex Foti had nine points to finish first in the event.
Max Kasal took first in the 200-yard freestyle, tallying nine points with a time of 1:46.33. Kremer was near the top of the leaderboard in the 100-yard backstroke, notching a time of 51.52. Zimmerman was right behind him, finishing under two seconds later than Kremer for third place. Burnard continued a fantastic day with a first-place completion of the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:58.20. Andy Groebner racked up 237.15 points in the one-meter dive and took first in the three-meter dive with a score of 231.37.
WOMEN’S EVENTS
Alexa Kelly began her day with a first-place finish in the 1000-yard freestyle. She recorded a time of 10:59.70. Later, she took first in the 200-yard butterfly, getting nine more points for GB with a time of 2:13.55. Ella Anderson tallied a second-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:08.75. Annie Frederickson, a freshman, was second in the one-meter dive, scoring 207.98 points. Frederickson also took second in the three-meter dive with 198.98 points. Kaleigh Gale took second in the 500-yard freestyle with a final time of 5:27.64. Grace Morgan was able to finish fourth, recording a time of 5:33.48.
Alli Misialek impressed in the 100-yard butterfly, taking first with a time of 1:01.19. McKenna Metropulos finished fourth for the Phoenix. Anderson also recorded a first-place finish in the 200-yard IM with a time of 2:16.46.
COMING UP
Green Bay will host a women-only meet against Indiana State this Saturday, October 14 at 10 a.m. in the Peter F. Dorschel Natatorium.
