MIAC Competition Comes Calling
MIAC women's swimming and diving preview courtesy of Matt Higgins and the MIAC office
Click here for the complete MIAC women's swimming & diving preview
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The 2013-14 women's swimming and diving season recently began in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC), and the new season starts with a familiar question at the forefront. Will Gustavus' continue its reign atop the MIAC standings, or will one of the challengers finally be able to knock the Gusties from their perch?
Last year, Head Coach Jon Carlson's team continued its recent dynasty with its fourth-straight MIAC Championship. The title was also the sixth for the Gusties in the past seven seasons, with only a Carleton title in 2008-09 interrupting the recent run of Gustavus glory. Carlson's crew will enter the season as the prohibitive favorite thanks to an immensely talented crop of returning swimmers, but a handful of other MIAC teams are positioning themselves to make a legitimate run at the Gusties at the 2014 MIAC Championship meet.
Gustavus scored 743 points last season to claim a 52-point victory over the rest of the field, but both St. Thomas and St. Olaf were close behind and have high hopes of competing for the title in 2014. The Tommies were the runner-up last year with 691 points, and the Oles rounded out the top three with 630.
There was a fairly significant drop-off between the top three and the rest of the field, with Saint Benedict finishing fourth and Carleton rounding out the top five. The Blazers (395 points) edged the Knights (349 points) for fourth, and both teams hope to improve and receive mention among the contenders in 2013-14.
St. Catherine was securely in sixth place with 238 points a year ago. Macalester scored 188 to edge Hamline (169) and Concordia (136) in a narrow battle for seventh place, while Saint Mary's (76) edged Augsburg (74) by just points for 10th place as that duo rounded out the final standings.
Will Gustavus make it a half-decade of success with its fifth-straight championship? Will St. Thomas, St. Olaf or another surprise contender emerge to leapfrog the Gusties in the standings? Which individual stars will emerge with MIAC records and unforgettable performances? Over the next four months the answers to these questions will start to take shape, with the final response coming at the 2014 MIAC Swimming and Diving Championships, with all of it adding up to another tremendous season ahead in the waters of the MIAC.
WHAT'S NEW?
There will be plenty of new faces around the league this season, as four teams all hired new head coaches during the offseason. Augsburg promoted assistant Steve Webb to the head job after Kasi Clauson-Lange departed. Concordia opens its first season under Moorhead native Ron Hehn, an All-American swimmer at Indiana University who founded the DakotaSota Swim Club in Fargo, N.D., and replaces Julie Lucier who moved to Montana with her family.
Hamline hired Ryan Hawke from UW-River Falls to replace Frank Vaccaro, who is now the Aquatic Director at the University of Notre Dame. Saint Benedict will open its first season under Dan Eckberg, who comes to the Blazers from nearby St. Cloud Tech High School after former coach Jordan Wolfrum accepted an assistant coaching position at Stanford.
The quartet of new coaches join second-year Head Coach Steven Mohs at St. Catherine and fourth-year Head Coach Beth Whittle at Macalester in the conference's recent youth movement. However, there are still numerous coaches ingrained in MIAC swimming still at the helm, starting with St. Olaf's Dave Hauck is entering his milestone 40th season leading the Oles, along with his son Bob who is in his 24th season. St. Thomas' Tom Hodgson is next in his 35th season, and Gustavus' Carlson, Carleton's Andy Clark and Saint Mary's Eric Lindquist have all been at their posts for at least 15 seasons
WHO'S BACK?
It's no wonder Gustavus is again considered the favorite starting at the top of their lineup. 2013 MIAC Swimmer-of-the-Year Alissa Tinklenberg returns for the final chapter in her outstanding career, which also includes three individual and three relay conference titles from a year ago. Junior All-American Jennifer Strom also returns as the leagues' defending champion and record holder in the 100 and 200 backstroke races.
The Tommies have the returning firepower to challenge the Gusties in 2013-14 thanks to an outstanding trio of juniors leading the way. Mariann Kukielka just won the first MIAC Athlete-of-the-Week award for the new season and is the two-time defending MIAC champ in the 100-yard butterfly. Emily Punyko is an All-American Honorable Mention and All-Conference performer in the breaststroke and Elise Guenther has won the MIAC title in the mile in each of her first two seasons.
The Oles have to replace graduated stars Meghan Weiss and Lydia Feldman, but there is plenty of returning talent in Northfield to keep St. Olaf in the upper echelon of the MIAC. Senior Carolyn Bernhardt, who finished second in the 100- and 200-yard backstrokes a year ago, leads the way, with talented sophomores Maddie Lee and Abbey Schnaith ready for expanded roles after breakout college debuts a year ago.
Eckberg has talented seniors Ellen Dean in the fly and medley events and Maria Gathje in the breaststroke and medley races to lead his first Saint Benedict team, and sophomore Steph Bierman will again lead the Blazers in the freestyle sprint events. Carleton graduated All-American freestyler Sophie Pilhofer, but has a pair of talented upperclass leaders back on the roster. Senior Milana Socha has earned All-MIAC honors in each of her first three seasons, and junior Alexandra Guy also contributed to an All-Conference relay performance a year ago.
St. Catherine said goodbye to two-time MIAC champ Steffanie Jurusik, but will be led by seniors Kathleen VanDeVoorde and Lauren Kranig in the backstroke, as well as sophomore Haley French Krahn in the distance events. Macaleter's success starts on the diving board with senior Renee Jordan, who was the MIAC Diver-of-the-Year and 3-meter champ in 2013, as well as an All-American. Sophomore Hunter Hedenberg also claimed the MIAC 1-meter diving title last season, and fellow sophomore Maggie McKenna leads the Scots' swimmers.
Hawke's first Hamline team will be led by junior swimmer Hannah Hawker in the backstroke and sprint events, with sophomore Dani Waskosky leading the divers. Senior Marissa Smith will also help the Pipers in the butterfly and backstroke races. The Cobbers have a pair of talented sophomores back in swimmer Rachel Aldinger and diver Jana Hedstrom, and junior Emily Erickson leads Concordia in the butterfly events.
Saint Mary's senior Sarah Jansen returns as the team's top diver, and versatile swimmer Anna Smaron held four SMU top times in 2012-13. Anne Racker, a junior, also helps the Cardinals in freestyle events. Augsburg has high hopes for emerging star Kelsey Knollmueller, who set eight school records at the MIAC meet (five individual, three relays) a year ago. She'll team up with seniors Elianna Bier and Elizabeth Hilgendorf, who also have times that rank among the best in Auggie history.
CIRCLE THESE DATES
Several MIAC first hit the pool in late October, with seven MIAC teams competing at the St. Thomas Relays on Oct. 26, and the rest will start their 2013-14 campaigns this month. Nov. 16 offers a great chance to catch much of the MIAC in action at the Roger Ahlman Invite, hosted by Macalester. Augsburg, Hamline, Concordia, St. Catherine, Saint Mary's, St. Olaf, St. Thomas and the host Scots will all be among the teams competing that day.
December begins with most of the conference going head-to-head as well. Augsburg, Carleton, Gustavus, Hamline, Macalester, St. Olaf and St. Thomas will all compete in the Jean Freeman Invitational on Dec. 6 at the site of the MIAC Championships, the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center. Another good chance to catch most of the conference in the same pool features Saint Benedict and the Wildcats, Auggies, Cobbers, Pipers and Cardinals will all square off at the St. Catherine Invitational in St. Paul on Jan. 25.
The conference title will be decided over three action-packed days in mid February, as the 2014 MIAC Swimming and Diving Championships are set to take place on Feb. 13, 14 and 15 at the U of M's Aquatic Center in Minneapolis. There will be two sessions each day - preliminary races in the morning and championship heats in the evening - starting at 10:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. The MIAC Swimming and Diving Championships are always one of the conference's most popular events, and the 2014 edition should be another exciting weekend in the pool and on the diving board.
A CLOSER LOOK
The rest of the 2013 MIAC Women's Swimming and Diving Preview contains MIAC Championship details, helpful links and a preview for each team submitted by their sports information director. The new MIAC web site - www.miacathletics.com - will be an outstanding source for MIAC women's swimming and diving news, schedules, results, stats and more throughout the 2013-14 season.
This year, the MIAC scoreboard will include women's swimming and diving events, with links to results to see how MIAC teams fared in each race throughout the season. Also, download the MIAC mobile app to have all the information with you anywhere you travel. Also, connect to the conference on its Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages for updates and interaction all season long.
2014 MIAC SWIMMING AND DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
The 2014 MIAC Swimming and Diving Championships will take place Feb. 13-15, 2014, at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center in Minneapolis, Minn. This year's host schools are Gustavus Adolphus College and Hamline University. There will be two sessions each day - a preliminary session each morning at 10:30 a.m., and the finals that evening at 6:30 p.m. The MIAC will provide live results online as well as live video web casts of all six sessions thanks to a partnership with Webcast America. Complete information can be found online at the event's home page.
| 2014 MIAC Swimming and Diving Championships Page |