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Well, it’s almost time to kick off yet another season in the MIAC. Buzz going around on Alumnus channels seem to indicate strong recruiting classes for Olaf and Gustavus, with little to no hype heard about any of the other MIAC schools. Can anyone out there finally fess up to what caliber of recruits schools such as St. John’s and Carleton got?
Also, who can we expect to shine this year? Any returning athletes that we should keep an eye out for? Conversely, are there any athletes that have had their glory and are on their way out?
Should be a good year again, can’t wait to meet up with everyone at Sally’s during the meet.
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Maybe a different way to look at the up coming season would be to speculate on each teams approach to it. For example, Carlton may not have a strong shot at the MIAC title but Ted Marschall could have a great National meet. Maybe they choose to train him through conference for the big meet. If Olaf thinks they can make a serios run at GAC, would they train Westby for conference? (I think his main taper was Nats last year). Does gustavus feel they have the horses and feel it’s time to look past the conference meet and make a good showing at Nationals? After the way they swam during the season last year and conference, I would think they were a little disappointed in their National meet performance. They certainly seem to have some guys that could make some noise if they focused on that meet. Do they feel they can still hold off Olaf and still not taper some of their stud until Nats? I think if all the teams approach this season the same way they did last year, the results look to be about the same in events and team standings. The coaches approach to the season and their swimmers and team goals could change and make a difference. Any thoughts or insight?
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Well, Vincent, it looks like we’re the only 2 MIAC pre-season fans out there! And on a more serious note, Pulp Fiction rocks my world.
I would agree that there are some consideration for each team with regards to their main goal.
As you said, Marschall could have an outstanding meet in Houston, provided that Carleton doesn’t need his guns at the show come February. It would be my guess that as a Sophomore(???) he would train for Conference and then decide next season whether or not an individual taper for NCAAs is what he wants to do.
The Oles could make a run at Gustavus this year with their first-year class, almost neccessitating that they train and taper everyone for MIACs.
From what I’m hearing out of Gustavus they have the largest team ever, bringing in over 30 first-years and putting their team total for the coming season between 80 and 90. With those numbers they will do more damage than they have in the past, not to mention a good chunck of that 30 is a talented class. I too believe that GAC’s national meet last year was a little disappointing, but in talking to some of the swimmers that competed there it didn’t feel like a nation meet since so many of them were swimming in their home pool. Come Houston, I think it will be a different story. Carlson, I think, has been on the edge of letting his athletes make a mid-season run at cuts and then taper for NCAA’s for a few years now and I have to believe with the kind of talent his program has in the Senior class (Hagemeyer, Amundson, Waylander, etc…) and the talent with some time left (Hanson, Stewart, Ziegler, etc…) that this would be the year to go for it. This group, provided that they trained over the summer and are willing to hit it hard through Captain’s practices, should be able to put together some fantastic swims come Carthage in December, hopefully getting a couple individual cuts per person as well as some relays. With that happening, a quick 3 – 5 day taper for MIAC’s to make sure they compete at that level, and then a focus on NCAA’s should allow Carlson’s studs to swim lights out come Houston. His goal has always been on the Conference meet, but with the talent and numbers present this season, I gotta believe that he’ll give it a shot this year.
I know that there a few current Gustie swimmers active on here; has JC given any clues as to whether or not a mid-season full taper is in the works?
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@lirpa wrote:
80-90 swimmers?
From what I’ve been hearing from current team members that is the count.
@backstroker02 wrote:
Yeah, I also guarentee that a lot of those in the stands at conference could have placed quite well too. I have to say, I don’t envy Carlson when it come to making cuts for the roster. I think it is going to be very hard this year.
In past seasons, especially as of late, Carlson has had some tough decisions to make in order to fill his roster. This year shouldn’t be any different. From the sounds of it there are quite a few first-years who could, and may, end up taking conference spots that Juniors/Seniors have had since their first year.
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I highly doubt that. GAC has quite a few studs that it will be pretty tough to knock out of the conferenced line up. I would guess JC will have some tough decisions with the last 1 or 2 spots. But the rest of the lineup should be pretty much the same as last year. I would bet that you will see more of a change from Olaf and the rest of te MIAC in their conference lineup than you will from the Gusties. Amundson, Hagameyer, Hanson, Stewart, Ziegler, Cuevas, Wakefield….. who would come out of the lineup? It seems to me that the rest of the MIAC needs to make adjustments to beat these guys. I don’t see to many Freshman that could come in and take these spots. These guys can put up some pretty fast times. And they are the ones to beat in the MIAC. It would be fun to see some other teams bring in some new talent to challenge some of these guys this year. But, unfortunately, I don’t see it happening. I don’ forsee any Froshie’s coming in and going under 4:30 in the 500 to dethrone Hanson. All these guys can be pretty dominate in there events. But, It’s allways fun to see that one guy who comes out of nowhere and rocks the pool!
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I have to agree with Vincent in the fact that it is very difficult for a freshman to come in and take a spot away from an older swimmer. I would expect about 3 or 4 new swimmers will be on the GAC men’s conference swimming roster this year. I would say that about twice as many new faces will be on the Olaf conference roster.
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I don’t care if GAC has 20 people or 8000 people, 18 can swim… or a different number since divers count as 1/3 of a person, but that’s getting off track, everyone understands my points. I also agree that the swimmers who decide this meet will not be on the fence for making the conference team or not.
This season will be very interesting for both the men and the women.
St. Kates made some huge strides last year in improving their team, will we see another great class? St. Olaf and Carleton both lost key swimmers, but were also very strong last year, you have to think they reloaded and will be ready for another run at the title. GAC has supposedly brought in a great class of ladies, are they good enough to contend or just good enough to get them ready for contention in a year or 2?St. Olaf needs depth to win this meet this year. They have a few studs and seem to have brought in that needed depth, but will GAC be too strong? I don’t see either of them not resting for MIACs, one reason being they don’t taper for their mid season meet. A double taper can effectively be done, they just need to try something new this year… and it’s only a 50, i say they just need to all step up. Look at what Stewart did last year…
Speaking of Stewart, will his great meet at NCAAs have momentum to carry over to this year? I think Westby’s will, shoulder or no shoulder, he will step up when needed… and people questioned him last year (i was one) so I am guessing he’d like to be questioned again, just to prove everyone wrong.
The dual should be quite a show again this year… both teams return strongly, with Olaf probably getting the edge in their additions, although we haven’t seen GAC’s roster yet. If they got the breastroker (58) their medleys will be tough, but perhaps not quite Olaf level.
I’ll pick Olaf in the dual but GAC at conference.
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@mindgame wrote:
This season will be very interesting for both the men and the women.
St. Kates made some huge strides last year in improving their team, will we see another great class?Huh?
St. Kate’s, St. Ben’s, whatever
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