Hello!
Well, it was a fun Day 2 (formerly Day 1) at the MIAC Championships. For the men, this was supposed to be our best day, with the guys only having to make up 10 points to break even on the day. Well, the men, to a person, completely stepped up BIG TIME and actually increased our lead over the Tommies to 80 points going into the weekend. I told them before the morning session that if they are “going to poke The Bear (St. Thomas) you better not just poke…you better hit them as hard as you can!”. The guys put 4 people in the final of the 50 free and 5 people in the final of the 200IM taking the top 4 places!! The night ended with the men coming from behind to win the 400 medley relay, with anchor Matt Allison posting the fastest 100 free relay split in the history of the program, 44.2.
The women maybe swam better than the men!! They were supposed to be way out of the mix (over 100 points behind going in) and are 30 points behind St. Catherine, and 40 points behind the leader St. Thomas. An example is in the 200 IM, where going in, Haley Auran was seeded 24th, and Rachel Thate was seeded 26th. They stepped up BIG TIME finishing 8th and 11th respectively last night!!
You can check out all of the results from yesterday, as well as follow along this weekend at the MIAC Championships webpage: https://www.miacathletics.com/playoffs/2018-19/sd
Today is what we call “Moving Day”. This morning’s session will set the tone for how the rest of the meet will go. LOTS of opportunities to move up (and down), with the most events contested today. The men are hoping to keep St. Thomas from their inevitable run today. We have officially “poked the bear” and we know St. Thomas will come out flying!! They outscore us in the pool today. We’re hoping we have enough of a cushion to make the last day interesting. The women…quite frankly, I don’t know what to say because I didn’t expect us to be where we are at. The women are hoping to hang with the top group for one more day to give themselves a chance on Sunday. They did it yesterday. I’m excited to see where we’ll be at the end of today.
Have A Great Saturday!
Jon Carlson
Gustavus Swimming
p.s. Follow me on Twitter. One of my swimmers is giving live updates as the meet goes on:
How great for you and your fellow coaches to see the kids do what you’ve worked all year for–actually the last several. Having said that, I know you haven’t had to swim a single length of the pool. In your mind you’ve swum every length the kids have. I say…way to go , Jon Carlson. You are changing lives, my friend.
Last night we on campus for the choir’s home concert. Like the swimmers, the performance was outstanding. After the concert there was a reception. So what did Zach and I spend some time with–checking the results at the U’s pool. He is still a Gustie swimmer as is his old Grampa. Gustavus people, like Jon Carlson, Greg Aune, and Vic Gustafson change lives!
Looks like you had great Saturday morning!! Keep it up!!