Fact or Fiction… Jonah Winter on Gustavus Meds

I’ll take a stab at the Oles:

200 Medley:
Tom Kukla
Ben Wareham
Nelson Westby
Jake Koch

400 Medley:
Tom Kukla
Ben Wareham
Nelson Westby
Jake Koch

200 Free:
Nelson Westby
CJ Wagner
Brock Edwards
Jake Koch

400 Free:
Nelson Westby
CJ Wagner
Brock Edwards
Jake Koch

800 Free:
Mike Jessop
CJ Wagner
Adam Thomas
Joe Anderson

Most of these are pretty clear cut, maybe with one or two changes, not much of a debat. How about the other teams in the conference. Try Hamline, Carelton, Macalster. I think it is hard to determine what they will do.

@Mac of the MIAC wrote:

GAC 800 Free
Ben Hanson
Skylar Davis
Matt Stewart
Billy Cuevas

@Look Up wrote:

800 Free:
Mike Jessop
CJ Wagner
Adam Thomas
Joe Anderson

Since this is probably the only relay that will be even close (medlies go to olaf by far, shorter frees to gac by far), i thought i’d look at these 2, and from the lineups listed here, i don’t see Olaf keeping pace with GAC. Anyone else feel that way? Westby was on this relay last year, which helped keep it close.

Also, Carlson seems to put swimmers in spots to get more guys on his NCAA team, so he may do that again.

@Mac of the MIAC wrote:

Joe Anderson can beat Billy Cuevas and that’s about it. GAC dominates this relay from start to finish.

Actually, last year Cuevas was 1:43.2, compared to Anderson’s 1:43.8. In the relay, Cuevas split 1:42.6.

@Mac of the MIAC wrote:

CJ Wagner will not swim 3 relays. I’d say Keagan Recher replaces him in the 4×50 and Joe Anderson in the 4×100.

200 Free
Nelson Westby
Keagan Recher
Brock Edwards
Jake Koch

400 Free
Nelson Westby
Joe Anderson
Brock Edwards
Jake Koch

I’ll give you that Wagner might not swim all three, but I’d have to be pretty sure that he’ll swim at least two. He has some of the better freestyle times on the Ole squad this year.

Recher has been swimming a lot of backstroke this year and not much of the sprint freestyle. So, I can see Anderson swimming in Wagner’s place, but not really Recher.

Even so, I see GAC taking all three freestyle relays without too much sweat, and Olaf keeping a strong hold on second in the 800. But it seems to me Olaf will need to ensure it doesn’t slip into third in either of the shorter freestyles, so they’ll be putting their studs their, since they have plenty of good 200 swimmers to ensure second in the 800. That is assuming the Hauck’s don’t try for an upset in the 800 (The only ones the Oles might get) and put their studs there.

Why wouldn’t Olaf stack the 800 FR rather than the 400 FR, did i miss something? They went 6:49 at NCAAs and don’t graduate a single person from the relay. I would think they will 100% sure stack it and take a chance at beating GAC in it. It’s not like they’d beat them in the 400 FR no matter who they put on (GAC goes sub 3:03 this year, by the way).

I agree that Olaf needs to go after GAC in the 800 FR. It will be a close meet and that’s an event they have a chance to steal. (If GAC overlooks them)
In the 400 FR who do you feel will be the foursome that puts up this monster time of under 3:03?[/url]

@Vincent Vega wrote:

In the 400 FR who do you feel will be the foursome that puts up this monster time of under 3:03?

Stewart       46.5

Wakefield     46.5

Amundson      45.0

Hagemeyer     45.0

3:03

I look at this way for a sub-3:03

They went 3:03.7 last year, returning everyone. I feel Hanson will be on the relay, since he split 46-high at Carthage, a meet he never swims well at, meaning he should be 46-low come MIACs. That gives them half a second. The other quarter of a second should come from either Stewart of Amundson, or heck, both of them. They are swimming much faster than last year and i have little doubt on their ability to drop from their times last year. It should be fun to see.

@Mac of the MIAC wrote:

Who do you think will swim breast on the Gustavus meds?

Whether or not this is directed at me, i’ll take a stab at it. To be honest, i don’t know. A big reason i don’t know is because I am not at practice with them. The 400 MR is most often decided based on how swimmers are doing in practice because none of the events on the first day really show a coach how swimmers are swimming. I think if a swimmer has a horrible swim or a great swim, it could hurt or help, but it really doesn’t mean much.

That being said, GAC isn’t in position to win either of these relays, and 3rd place is probably not going to happen, so i’ll bet they give a guy a shot.

400 MR
Ross Elenkiwich

200 MR
Jonah Winter

Where are those stud freshmen breastrokers that Gustavus picked up? I haven’t seen them around.

I’ve heard that Timmer should arrive right after J-Term. All his credits transferred, and he just needed to complete Calculus I this January to be eligible. He hasn’t been able to practice with the team, but he’s been swimming on his own. As long as he doesn’t hit any snags with the NCAA, eligibility wise, his first meet should be the MN Challenge, and then Conference. He hasn’t trained enough to taper very well, but when you start from 55.0 in the 100BR, you don’t need to taper too far…

um, no.

I just picked up Mitch Stepleton in my fantasy swimming supplemental draft. I figure he’ll be on most of the MAC relays at conference.

It was between him and Tom Walsh. I feel I made the right choice.

Mitch Stepleton is the new Jared Rudolph!

It will be interesting to see how Hameline, MAC, and St. Mary’s fare in the relays. Can they overtake St. Thomas, SJU, or Carleton in any?

Mac and St Mary’s seem a little thin to be a threat in the relays.

Hamline and Carleton have some talented guys, Carleton looks pretty good in the medleys, not sure how Hamline will put their relays together, but might fight for fourth in one or two.

St Thomas Sprint relays look strong, with Hardy giving some star power.

I’m interested in St Johns. Can they threaten Gustavus for 2nd in those medleys? Novotny swam some fast breast this weekend and was ahead of the GAC guys. They are pretty solid all through: Larson, Novotny/Turtle, Swenson, Chapman/Christiansen. They could be right near 3:30.

Any chance Olaf splits Back duties on the 200 and 400 Meds between Kukla and Meyer? Reason being to make sure they get both guys to Nats. Both are at B cuts now, but who knows if they’d both make A cuts.

Plus, it seems like they go back and forth on who does better at each meet.

You could have Jared from Subway swim the backstroke leg on the med for Olaf and still make Nat cuts.