BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) announced its Athlete of the Week award winners for swimming & diving and indoor track & field on Tuesday. Student-athletes from Carleton, Macalester, Saint Benedict, Saint John’s, and St. Olaf claimed the Conference’s weekly honors.
The MIAC Athlete of the Week awards are nominated by the Conference’s sports information directors and selected by MIAC staff. Throughout the winter season, team sports (basketball and hockey) Athletes of the Week will be recognized on Monday afternoons, with individual sports (swimming & diving and indoor track & field) announced on Tuesday afternoons. The winners of the latest Athlete of the Week awards are listed below, along with details on their outstanding performances.
The MIAC Athlete of the Week archive has complete details on each week’s selections and winners.
MIAC Men’s Swimming Athlete of the Week
Brayden Slavik
Saint John’s University
Sr.
Green Isle, Minn. / Chaska
Brayden Slavik won two events with NCAA B-cut times and finished second in one more event at the Rochester Invitational on 12/4-6. Slavik won the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:30.15, which surpassed the NCAA B-cut time of 4:31.24. He added his second B-cut time of the weekend in the 1,650-yard freestyle with a time of 15:43.14 to win the event. Slavik beat that cut time by nearly seven seconds. Slavik also finished second in the 400-yard individual medley (4:04.88) and was a member of three SJU freestyle relay teams at the meet.
MIAC Men’s Diving Athlete of the Week
Hans Anderson
Carleton College
Sr.
Watertown, Minn. / Watertown-Mayer
Hans Anderson was the top NCAA Division III diver in both the 1-meter and 3-meter competitions at the Rochester Invitational on 12/4-5. Anderson scored 440.30 points on the 1-meter board to place second overall on 12/4 before totaling 458.45 points off the 3-meter board on 12/5 for another runner-up performance overall.
MIAC Women’s Swimming Athlete of the Week
Haley Zelen
College of Saint Benedict
Jr.
Shakopee, Minn. / Shakopee
Haley Zelen rewrote the CSB record book at the Rochester Invitational on 12/4-6, breaking three individual program records and contributing to a relay record while earning three NCAA Division III B-cut times. Zelen set new marks in the 50 free (23.07), 100 fly (54.72), and 100 free (50.79), and helped the 200 CSB medley relay team post a new record time of 1:46.69. Zelen’s time of 1:05.77 in the 100 breast ranks second in Saint Benedict history.
MIAC Women’s Diving Athlete of the Week
Nina Schwab
Carleton College
So.
Piedmont, Calif. / Piedmont
Nina Schwab won the 1-meter diving competition by nearly 80 points with a score of 486.00 at the Rochester Invitational on 12/5. That point total eclipsed her own program record set last season and also established a new MIAC overall standard, besting the previous mark of 485.40 that had stood since 2013. Schwab also won the 3-meter diving competition on 12/4 with a score of 427.90. She totaled 438.85 points during the preliminary round.
MIAC Men’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Week
Lance Nemecek
St. Olaf College
Sr.
Minnetrista, Minn. / Mound-Westonka
Lance Nemecek ran the second-fastest 800-meter time in NCAA Division III this season with a meet record time of 1:54.02 at the M City Classic on 12/5. Nemecek’s time ranks third on both St. Olaf’s all-time performers’ and performances lists. He also led off the first-place 4×400-meter relay that won the event in a meet-record time of 3:21.77, which ranks fifth nationally and second on both St. Olaf lists.
MIAC Men’s Indoor Field Athlete of the Week
Soren Kaster
Carleton College
Jr.
Horace, N.D. / West Fargo Sheyenne
Soren Kaster placed third overall and second among NCAA Division III competitors in the heptathlon with 4,606 points at the M City Classic on 12/5-6. Kaster’s score was the third-best in program history and ranks third in D-III this season. He clocked times of 7.44 in the 60-meter dash, 9.03 in the 60-meter hurdles, and 2:53.49 in the 1000-meter run; measured 10.09 meters in the shot put and a personal-best 6.31 meters in the long jump; and cleared 1.70 meters in the high jump and a MIAC-best 4.35 meters in the pole vault.
MIAC Women’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Week
Ariella Rogahn-Press
Macalester College
So.
Albuquerque, N.M / Bosque School
Ariella Rogahn-Press won the 400 meters by more than five seconds at the M City Classic in Minneapolis on 12/5 with a time of 57.43. Her converted time ranks third in NCAA Division III this season.
MIAC Women’s Indoor Field Athlete of the Week
Svea Frantzich
St. Olaf College
Fy.
Stillwater, Minn. / Breck
Svea Frantzich recorded the fifth-highest pentathlon score in NCAA Division III this season with 3,005 points in her collegiate debut at the M City Classic on 12/5. Frantzich posted top-10 all-time performances on St. Olaf’s indoor list in the 60-meter hurdles (9.47) and long jump (5.44m) on her way to compiling the No. 8 pentathlon score on the Oles’ all-time performers’ list.