This is the meet the Laker Swimmers have been working towards all semester and the results were everything they hoped for with multiple individual top 8 finishes, fast relays and a strong showing in the team standings. The Iowa Lakes Men, competing with just eight athletes, finished well ahead of Morningside, Loras and St. Mary's. The next closest team in the standing, St. Olaf, had twice as many athletes as Iowa Lakes and they were not far ahead throughout the weekend. Head Coach Todd Peters noted the comments he received from other coaches during the meet. "Our performances were definitely noticed this weekend. I had coaches asking me where our athletes were planning to transfer to after this season and letting me know they were interested. Our sprinting and relay swims were tough to miss as we were right there with the best swimmers in the meet."
The Lakers' 200, 400, and 800 Free Relays all finished in the top 6 with times way faster than the team acheived all last season. The 200 Free Relay with Jake Bohnert, Randy Vaughan, Garrett Nielson and Val Trussov finished 4th and holds the same NJCAA National ranking. The 400 Free Relay with Bohnert, Vaughan, Trussov and Patrick Voller finished 5th and hold the same NJCAA National ranking. The 800 Free Relay of Bohnert, Voller, Vaughan, and Ben Hehr finished 6th and is ranked 3rd in the NJCAA.
Bohnert was the standout on the weekend and definitely impressed all the coaches on deck with his 21.23 in the 50 freestyle, which was a lifetime best and placed him 4th overall. That time is good enough for 7th in the NJCAA this season. Bohnert also finished well in the 100 free (47.52 - 5th), 200 backstroke (1:58.52 - 5th), and 200 Free (1:46.21 - 9th). His 200 Free time in finals was the 4th fastest time in finals, but he didn't qualify for the A final heat and had to settle for 9th place. Bohnert also led off all the free relays and all but one of his swims on the weekend were lifetime best performances.
Freshman Val Trussov had a breakthrough meet with season best performances in the 100 IM (56.71 - 14th), 100 fly (54.04 - 18th), 400 IM (4:33.61), and 100 Breaststroke (1:03.02 - 21st). Val also had strong relay performances and earned his way onto four of the five Laker A relays.
Randy Vaughan finished well with lifetime best swims in the 100 IM (55.65 - 11th), 200 IM (2:05.70 - 17th), 200 Breaststroke (2:22.21 - 17th), and 400 IM (4:28.23 - 17th).
Patrick Voller placed in the 100 Free (48.31 - 11th), 100 backstroke (56.22 - 17th), 100 IM (58.05 - 16th), and the 50 Free (22.49 - 23rd)
The Laker Swimmers will take a break and resume practices on January 4 as they begin their preparation for the NJCAA National meet in March. The first competition of the Spring semester will be a double dual at Luther which will include Loras College.