MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The Saint Mary's University of Minnesota swimming and diving teams had one final "tune-up" before the upcoming season-ending Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships—and the Cardinals made the most of the opportunity.
In a meet filled with conference teams—allowing coach
Amber Bartholomew an opportunity to see how her teams stack up against the rest of the MIAC schools—the Cardinals certainly turned more than a few heads in the non-team-scored event.
Grace VanBeest (Flossmoor, Ill.) and
Reese Galewski (Winona, Minn.) had busy afternoons Saturday for the Cardinal women, while Joe Tonda (St. Paul, Minn.) got plenty of pool time to lead the way for the Saint Mary's men.
VanBeest posted a time of 1:11.12 in the 100 breaststroke and added times of 5:09.93 in the 400 IM and 2:38.82 in the 200 breaststroke, while Galewski stopped the clock in 1:03.32 in the 100 butterfly, before adding a 2:26.34 in the 200 backstroke, a 1:08.20 in the 100 backstroke, and a 2:31.53 in the 200 butterfly.
Sarah Fanning (Sparta, Wis.) posted an MIAC-qualifying time of 27.94 in the 50 freestyle, while
Chloe Morrison (Ashkum, Ill.) notched a 21:21.17 in the 1,650 freestyle.
Ailie Davidson (Duluth, Minn.) paced the Cardinal divers, totaling 151.5 points in the 1-meter competition, while
Shelby Peterson (St. Paul, Minn.) totaled 135.75 in the1-meter and 125.40 in the 3-meter, with
Kierra Walske (Rochester, Minn.) adding a 128.35 in the 1-meter and 122.15 in the 3-meter.
On the men's side, Tonda stole the show, clocking a 4:33.99 in the 400 IM—17 seconds faster than his season-best—and adding a 1:03.25 in the 100 breaststroke, a 2:08.37 in the 200 backstroke, and a 2:22.27 in the 200 breaststroke. Lucas Gerads (St. Cloud, Minn.) stopped the clock in 59.40 in the 100 butterfly and tallied times of 1:02.48 in the 100 back and 2:21.12 in the 200 butterfly, with Andrew Eggersgluss (Mound, Minn.) chipping in a 1:05.91 in the 100 backstroke.
The Cardinals are now off until Feb. 18-20, when they head back to the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center for the three-day, season-ending Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships.
