ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – Friday night’s dual meet against St. Thomas might have been the longest in recent memory for the College of Saint Benedict swim and dive team, but it was also one of the most competitive.
The meet – which took more than four and a half hours from start to finish – served as a measuring stick of CSB’s progress in just one year. After losing to a deep UST squad by more than 100 points in a 2018-19 dual at the Tommies’ home pool, Saint Benedict swam to within 24 points of St. Thomas Friday night. For its impressive performance against one of the top teams in the conference, the swim and dive is this week’s CSB Team of the Week.
At last year’s dual against UST, the Tommies walked away with a 201-99 victory. Saint Benedict won five events, had 13 competitors finish in the top three and there were five events with no Bennie swimmers in the top three.
At the 2019 version of the MIAC dual, Saint Benedict kept the meet close throughout, and finished just behind UST by a score of 159-135. CSB won eight events – including one relay – and had 20 swimmers and divers in the top three. This year, there were only two events with no Bennie athletes in the top three.
Sophomore Mikayla Von Wahlde and first year Emily Quill were both dual winners for Saint Benedict Friday night as Von Wahlde swept the backstroke races and Quill made it a clean sweep in the diving competitions for CSB. Quill is undefeated in her collegiate career on the one-meter board, and missed breaking the school record – that she set a week ago – by a mere three points. She also recorded a 21-point improvement on the three-meter board.
Jessica Milstroh won the 100 breaststroke and just missed slipping into the top 10 in program history in the event, and she recorded the ninth-best 100 butterfly score in CSB history, taking second in the event in 1:01.16. Artie Pomerenke finished third on the one-meter diving board, and moved up to fourth in program history with a career-best score of 250.00.
First years Thea Oman and Molly Johanson also came away victorious Friday night. Oman won the 50 freestyle and took second in the 100 free with a new personal-best time, and Johanson won the 400 IM. Milstroh, Oman, Madison Slavik and Zoe Allyson wrapped up the meet with a win in the 200 freestyle relay. Last year, CSB didn’t have a relay team finish in the top three against the Tommies. This year, along with the win in the 200 free relay, the squad’s top 200 medley relay team finished second.
When all was said and done, the team finished the night with 38 season-best times or marks, and 13 career-best times or marks.
CSB is off now until Saturday, Nov. 23, when it travels to St. Paul to take on St. Kate’s in MIAC dual. The team is 1-1 in conference duals so far this season.
