Pioneers Capture Seventh at Mutual of Omaha Invite

The Grinnell College men's swimming and diving team ended with 169 points to take seventh-place over the weekend at the Mutual of Omaha Invite. The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse captured the team title with 924 total points.

Nate Kimball '07 turned in a strong weekend by taking 10th in the 400 IM (4:32.76) and 13th in the 100 butterfly (55.12). He also added a ninth-place finish (2:04.33) in the 200 butterfly as teammate Nate Wittnam '09 placed 10th.

Mike Weslander '09 was strong as well, taking 17th in the 100 breaststroke (1:05.26) before finishing eighth in the 200 breaststroke.

Wittnam also captured 15th in the 100 butterfly and was teamed up with Pat Blachly '09, Patrick Thomas '10, and Paul Gagne '10 to place fifth in the 800 freestyle relay. He added an eighth-place finish (5:02.40) in the 500 freestyle.

Gagne reached the finish line in 1:51.58 to take 14th in the 200 freestyle before taking 12th in the 500 freestyle. He then captured third in the 1650 freestyle (18:01.59), while Eric Thumma '08 took 13th for the Pioneers.

In the 200 breaststroke, Jay Lidaka '10 took 15th as Anders Ahlberg '10 and Zach Wegermann '08 finished 17th and 18th respectively. Thor Kahn '10 and David Paige '09 captured 14th and 15th in the 1000 freestyle to round out the performances for the Pioneers.

The team will now take a few weeks off before traveling to Naples, Fla., for its winter training from December 30-January 10. While on the trip, the Pioneers will face Connecticut College at 1:00 p.m. on January 5.

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