Men 6th, Women 6th at MIAC swim meet

February 15, 2004
see link to meet summary, team scores and complete results by session here

St. Thomas placed sixth in both the men's and women's divisions of the three-day MIAC Swimming & Diving Championships which concluded Saturday night at the U of M Aquatic Center.

The Tommie men scored 179 points, just 11 behind fifth-place Macalester. The UST women scored 236 points but were well behind fifth-place St. Ben's, which totaled 311. Gustavus and St. Olaf finished 1-2 in the men's and women's races.

St. Thomas battled through an unusual number of injuries and study-abroad absences this season, which affected training.

St. Thomas had two Saturday finalists -- senior Missy Jackson placed fourth in the 200 breaststroke (2:30.66) and junior Dave Linn took fifth in the 200 backstroke (1:58.90).

In other Saturday men's results, UST placed fifth in the 400 free relay in 3:22.23 with Dave Turnbloom, John Kuykendall, Linn and Matt Des Marais. Three Tommie men placed in the consolation finals (9th through 16th place) -- Kuykendall was 14th in the 100 free (50.32); Alex Bos was 14th in the 200 fly (2:33.99); and Turnbloom was 16th in the 200 breaststroke. Des Marais placed 18th in the 1650 free (18:32.26).

The Tommie women took seventh in the 400 free relay in 3:51.95 with Heather McFarlane, Krysy Harrod, Danelle Marsden and Cathleen Daly. Daly also won the consolation final in the 200 breaststroke (2:35.93) for ninth place overall. McFarlane took 15th in the 100 free (56.05); and Ann Hepola was 11th in the 1650 free (19:06.31).

Friday's Results
Linn placed sixth in the 100 backstroke in 53.94. Turnbloom was 12th in the 100 breaststroke in 64.20. UST took fifth in the men's 200 medley relay in 1:42.82 with Jon Soldner, Turnquist, Linn and Kuykendall.

On the women's side, Daly was third in the 100 breaststroke (1:09.09) and Jackson was fifth (1:10.02). Harrod was seventh in the 100 butterfly in 61.95 and eighth in the 100 backstroke in 62.84. The Tommies also placed sixth in the 200 medley relay in 1:56.64 with Harrod, Jackson, Marsden and Daly. Beth Hart took 16th in the 400 IM (5:30.15).

Thursday's results
Harrod placed seventh in the evening 200 individual medley finals in 2:16.47. Harrod, who missed most of the training this season while studying abroad through mid-January, clocked 2:15.96 in the morning prelims for the fourth best qualifying time. Harrod placed fourth last year in this event and set a school record in the 2003 prelims in 2:14.68. Two weeks ago at O'Shaughnessy Pool, in her first competition of the season, Harrod clocked 2:26.

The Tommie men took fifth in the 400 medley relay in 3:49.70 with Linn, Turnbloom, Kuykendall and Soldner. They placed fifth in the 200 free relay with Turnbloom, Soldner, Linn and Kuykendall.

The UST women placed fifth in the 400 medley relay in 4:13.24 with Harrod, Jackson, Kim Smith and McFarlane. They also placed seventh in the 200 free relay in 1:45.44 with Daly, Jackson, Marsden and McFarlane.

Daly placed 16th in the 200 IM (2:21.57). Smith (2:27.04) and Molly Pein (2:29.56) placed 22nd and 25th in the prelims but missed the consolation finals.

In the 500 freestyle prelims, Hepola was 18th (5:34.78) on the women's side and Des Marais was 21st on the men's side (5:13.61) as both missed the consolation finals.

In the men's 200 free, Kuykendall placed 15th (22.69). Turnbloom tied for 20th (23.03) and Soldner was 25th to miss the consolation finals.

In the three-meter diving, all the Tommies missed the eight-person finals. Danielle Lindeman took 13th (162.05), Jennifer Parks was 14th (160.25) and Jill Singsank was 21st (136.05).