As we finish the fall semester, get through finals, and finish our mid-season taper meet, this seems like a good time to reflect on how we have done to this point and to think about what we are preparing to do with the end of the season. It has been an exciting first half of the season, with lots of positives and lots of things to work on yet.
Our mid-season taper meet was in Rochester at the Rec Center against DI, DII, and highly ranked DIII teams. Nebraska-Omaha started a DI men’s team this year and has the looks of a team that will do very well in the years to come as a mid-major DI team. The usual suspects of UWL, UWEC, and St. Cloud were also in the mix at Rochester, as well as our least favorite rival, St. Thomas. In looking at their performances at the mid-season meet, I’d say they should have stayed a DIII team, as we ended up beating them at the meet (in total point) as well as in a few relays. While each teams makes different use of the mid-season meet, it’s typically a predictor of how the season is going and what to expect at the end. If we had one more year of competition against St. Thomas, I’m quite certain we could have taken them down at MIACs, which would have been satisfying; but I digress.
Overall the team performed really well at the mid-season meet. Based on the swimcloud.com website we had 77 lifetime best swims (of 118 total) at the meet. Not bad for the midpoint of the season. Some of the highlights included a team record in the 200 Backstroke by Joe Koller (Junior), a time of 1:54.24, shaving 1/100 of a second off the record by Jose Alverez. Following that were a slew of swims that were just off the SJU Top Five All Time List, including all the relays, and some swim by first years that made the freshman All-Time top 5 list: Liam Noble’s 100 Free of 46.67 is 5th all time, Carter Larson’s 200 Free of 1:45.07 is 4th all time, and Carter’s 500 Free of 4:48.53 is 3rd all time. There were countless other swims that were just off our top 5 lists that I’m sure with some good training in January will be taken down at MIACs. As a team we finished 5th behind the two WIAC schools, St. Cloud State (DII) and Omaha (DI); however, I will note we did beat St. Thomas in the final meet scores, something our guys were very proud of. 😊 All in all, it was a phenomenal meet that I believe is going to set us up for some great success at the end of the season.
As we look ahead to January our competition level continues to be high. We will dual the two MIAC teams that will be our greatest competition; Carleton and Gustavus. We will dual St. Cloud State which will be a tough meet, but certainly a learning opportunity for our guys. And We will host an invite for the first time in a few years, bringing St. Olaf, Gustavus and others to our campus for a fun meet in early January. Given the way the conference plays out these days on the men’s side, with St. Thomas leaving and St. Olaf on the decline, it is clear: the conference championship goes through Gustavus. While our dual meet should tell us a bit about how they are constituted, their depth (which is lost by the limited MIAC Roster) will push the outcome of the dual meet. I believe we are in good position to challenge Gustavus for a MIAC crown. When using a meet simulator with current times from the season the MIAC championships is within 20 points. While these are not always accurate (especially with mid-season times which can bend one way or another based on how teams swim), it energizes me to know that we are close. It has been my goal to push this team over the top to a conference championship since I got here, and this year it feels closer than ever before.
Looking ahead, we would love your support at our meets down the stretch and specifically at MIACs. It would be great to be able to walk in MIACs and have a huge section of Johnnie fans cheering on the guys as they push for that ever-elusive MIAC Championship. Hope to see you all at a few meets. In the meantime, enjoy the holidays with your family and friends. Go Johnnies!