Hello Johnnie Swim and Dive fans and alumni! I hope you are doing well. We are excited to be starting a new school year here at St. John’s, and having the swim season just around the corner. The fall always brings renewed hope and excitement as we prepare for another season and make another push towards a MIAC Championships.
Last year certainly ended on a high note, as our graduating senior, Brayden Slavik was All-American for the second time, and finished 3rd at the NCAA Championships in the 1650! He also had swims in the 400 IM, and the 500 Free at NCAAs, and finished his career breaking records in the 100 Back, 400 IM, and the 1650 Free. While he’ll be missed in the pool as a member of our team, we are excited to welcome Brayden to the staff as a new assistant coach for the swim team this year! I’m sure he’ll be able to keep those distance boys working just as he did at practices the last four years.
As we look ahead to this upcoming year, we are excited about the some of our top returners coming to move up at MIACs this year! Cody Watts (St. Cloud, MN) is our top returning diver, who is a 3-time NCAA Regionals qualifier and looking to take the big step to NCAAs this year. Cody finished 3rd on 3m dive last year at MIACs, and 2nd on 1m. Trevor Barton (Buffalo, MN) will be our top distance returner and will be looking forward to building on his top 8 finishes in the 500, 1650, and top 16 in the 400 IM. Returning sophomore Lincoln Cochran (Helena, MT) will also look to build on his top 8 finishes in the 400 IM, 200 Breast, and top 16 in 200 IM. Vincent Shulze is a returning sophomore as well who would make a big impact this year, but will be studying abroad this spring instead (hopefully leading to better junior and senior years). Lastly, sophomore Braydon Ohrtman (Highlands Ranch, CO) will return to make an impact in the freestyle events, 200 Free and 1650 Free top 8 finishes, and 500 free top 16. With strides made by these guys and others we look to build on our 3rd place team finish from last season.
We are also excited to add to the team 10 freshman to the team this year as well, adding some power in events that we needed as well as some needed depth in others. The class is led by 3 outstanding young men: Tommy Runkle (Sartell, MN) will be a standout in the sprint events, making an impact on relays for our team this year as well as the fly events. Lucas Penn (Greenly, CO) will make an impact in the mid-distance to distance free events, as well as the IM events. Rowan Lesmeister (Minneapolis, MN) will be a difference maker in the breaststroke events, and sprint freestyle events. There are many others in the class worth noting, but we are most excited to have a big group coming in to build on our teams depth and power in a wide variety of events.
With the beginning of a new season, we also begin another Go Johnnies Challenge. I’m sure many of you have received emails already asking for donations and support for Johnnie Athletics. We ask for your support because we simply would not be able to give our athletes the experience that we do without your support. Your donations purchase team equipment, like new resistance training buckets, and tempo trainers for our guys to help them hone their skills for the big meets at the end of the season. Your support also goes towards apparel and team gear such as Dome Caps our guys wore this last year at the MIAC Championships, and their tech suits that allow them to compete at the highest level. All your donations go directly to our team and make a huge impact in our ability to
compete and be the best team that we can be. Please consider donating today by going to this link: Go Johnnies Challenge The full team schedule is here, if you are able to make it to a meet this year we would love to see you! Let me know ahead of time and we can connect at the meet or have you come on deck and chat with the team! The Annual Swim and Dive Alumni Meet coming up as well! I’m sure you’ve all been training 6 days a week to get in shape for the alumni challenge! Our annual CSB/SJU Alumni Meet will be on October 3 at 10:30 AM. This is an opportunity to swim against the current team and hang out with all your old teammates that are coming back as well. This year the meet falls on Family Weekend so please come back check out the meet, see some old friends and then spend the day on campus watching the football game and cheering on the Johnnies. If you are planning on coming back for alumni meet they ask that you register so we know who all to expect, the registration information is on the link above. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to let me know. We look forward to seeing you back on campus and hope we can count on your support in the Go Johnnies Challenge.