The 2015 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships looked like a four-team race after the first day, but St. Thomas dramatically surged ahead over the final two days and cemented their conference championship at Saturday night’s final session.
The Tommies captured their 12th MIAC title and third since 2010 by pulling away from the field and unseating a St. Olaf team that came in as the two-time defending conference champ. The St. Thomas title comes in the first season for Head Coach Scott Blanchard, who replaced retired legendary coach Tom Hodgson following the 2014 season. UST ended up winning by more than 200 points with a final score of 808.
St. Olaf saw its title streak end at two, as the Oles finished second with a score of 604.5. Third-place Carleton and fourth-place Saint John’s also had impressive performances, as the Knights finished with 543.5 points and the Johnnies had 510. Gustavus rounded out the top five with 487 points, Hamline had 248 in sixth and Saint Mary’s (120) edged Macalester (118) by two points for seventh.
The post-meet awards ceremony honored the team champions and top individual award winners, and it was nearly a sweep for the champion Tommies. St. Thomas junior Mike Lanz claimed his second-straight MIAC Swimmer-of-the-Year award, and Tommie freshman Andrew Grabowski was named MIAC Diver-of-the-Year in his conference debut. Blanchard was named the Swimming Coach-of-the-Year for both men and women, and Saint John’s and Saint Benedict Diving Coach Jon Hazen received Diving Coach-of-the-year honors.
Lanz wowed the MIAC Championships crowd for the second-straight year as he captured the top swimming honor yet again, which was cemented Saturday thanks to his third title of the weekend. Lanz won his second consecutive 200-yard butterfly title with a 2014 NCAA selection time of 1:49.57. Lanz added the title to his 200-IM and 100-fly titles from earlier in the meet. It was a Tommie top three as Bailey Biwer (1:54.46) was second and Warren Melton (1:54.83) was third.
The rookies stole the show in the men’s 3-meter diving competition, with freshmen grabbing the top two spots. Tommies’ rookie Grabowski dazzled with an NCAA Diving Zone qualifying score of 442.50 to win the title after finishing second on the 1-meter board Thursday, which resulted in his Diver-of-the-Year honor. and Hamline rookie Skiah Garde Garcia was the runner up with 424.65 points. St. Olaf junior Scott Hodgson, who captured the 1-meter title Thursday, finished third (410.20) and also broke 400 points.
The 1,650-yard freestyle saw Gustavus senior star Zac Solis swim to his third MIAC title of the meet, as he pulled away to win by nearly 20 seconds. Solis, who also won the 200- and 500-free titles, finished with an NCAA B cut time of 16:07.53. Carleton’s Alex Mathson was the mile’s runner-up with a time of 16:27.09 and St. Thomas’ Josh Gerick, who had the top time coming in, was third (16:27.89).
St. Thomas grabbed the top two spots on the podium in the 200-yard backstroke, with Tom Osmolak adding the 200 title to his 100-back championship, and teammate Brady Anderson was the runner-up. Osmolak (1:49.77) and Anderson (1:53.17) both met the NCAA B cut, with third place going to Saint John’s sophomore Jose Alvarez (1:54.49).
The men’s 100-yard freestyle was one of the night’s best all-around races, with just over a second separating all eight in the final heat. Saint John’s Kenny Bergman pulled away in the final leg to capture the title with a time of 45.76, just ahead of a pair of St. Olaf seniors – Michael Gratz (46.12) and Tanner Roe (46.55).
St. Olaf sophomore Nicholas Wilkerson captured his second-straight title in the 200-yard breaststroke with an NCAA B cut time of 2:04.92 a night after he finished second in the 100-breast. It was an all-Northfield 1-2-3 finish as Carleton’s Evan Harris (2:05.98) had a B-cut time as the runner-up, and Ole first-year Nathaniel France (2:07.09) was third.
The men saved one of their best races for last, as the 400-yard freestyle relay saw the top three separated by less than half a second. Saint John’s claimed a thrilling victory with a time of 3:04.46, barely touching the wall before runner-up St. Olaf (3:04.80) and third-place St. Thomas (3:04.84). All three met the NCAA B cut in the event’s fitting and exciting conclusion.
Fans can re-live all the action from an incredible three days via the 2015 MIAC Swimming & Diving Championships home page. The site features the complete results, recaps, photos and more. Fans can also watch all six sessions on demand online, or order DVDs of the live video broadcast thanks to Webcast America. The site will be constantly updated throughout the event with heat sheets, links to follow the action live, results, recaps, photos and more. Fans can also use the hashtag #MIACSD to interact on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
The MIAC thanks its gracious host, the University of Minnesota and the entire staff at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center. The MIAC also thanks host schools Saint Benedict, Saint John’s and St. Thomas, The Commons Hotel, Elsmore Swim Shop, Webcast America, play-by-play broadcasters Mike Gallagher and Lauren Kranig, Meet Manager Dave Luedtke and all the officials, timers and volunteers.
Courtesy of St. Thomas Swimming.