Hello Ole sports fans!
I hope everyone had a great Interim and beginning of second semester. It’s great to have all of our students back on the Hill, ready to support our Ole Athletics! Since it has been awhile since my last blog, I thought I would recap the sports news from January, focusing on some highlights and recent sports news.
The St. Olaf men’s swimming and diving team is finishing the season in a strong way. The men’s team captured the MIAC title, beating out both St. Thomas and Gustavus. This is the fourth time in seven years that the Oles have captured the MIAC title. Freshman Billy Biebrick set the MIAC record for the 200 Butterfly with a time of 1:48.94. The women’s squad took third place, falling behind Gustavus and St. Thomas.
As most of the winter sports are wrapping up their seasons, the intensity is high as playoffs are right around the corner. Neither of the men’s or women’s basketball teams will have a postseason this year. The men finished with a MIAC record of 8-12 (9-16 overall), while the women finished 10-12 in the MIAC (12-13 overall).
The men’s hockey team had an exciting run in the month of January. They began the 2013 conference schedule with a five-game win streak, but then lost five straight to drop from first in the conference to fifth. The Oles (seeded #5) will play their first playoff game Friday February 22 against #4 Gustavus. The winner of that game will go on to play #1 seeded St. Thomas. The Friday night match-up promises to be an intense game as the Oles dropped two games to Gustavus the previous weekend and lost 4-2 last year at the MIAC championship game.
The women’s hockey team has one remaining series against St. Kate’s on February 22 and February 23. The teams are locked in a dead tie for 5th place and will be fighting for the final and 5th seed for MIAC playoffs, scheduled to begin on February 26. Watch the Oles host St. Kate’s on Friday February 22 at 7:30 pm at the Northfield Ice Arena.
Football season seems far away in February, but the Oles are working hard in Porter Hall under the leadership of newly named coach Craig Stern. As part of the staff for the last nine seasons, Stern is a natural choice for the job of head coach: the 13th in school history.
Spring sports have started up and you can find the teams practicing hard as they prepare for the beginning of their seasons. Look out for my next article featuring the Spring Sports preview next week! In the meantime, get out and support your sports!
Um Ya Ya!