Men's swimming picks up win at Hamline Invitational

ST. PAUL, MINN. – Braving the elements, Morningside's swimmers rose early and headed north to Hamline University for some quick races as part of the Hamline University Invitational on Saturday.

To begin the meet Cody Natali, Caden Morton, MK Mkhize, and Cael Jensen placed first in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:43.16.

Finishing first, third, and fourth Willy Pinnow, Bradley Palmer, and Ben No represented Morningside well in the 200-yard freestyle with times of 1:47.73, 1:57.76, and 2:04.52.

Walker Goebel and Morton placed first and second in the 100-yard butterfly with times of 55.70 and 58.14, respectively.

In the 100-yard backstroke Natali had a first place finish with a time of 57.65. Matthew Hanner placed second in the same event with a time of 1:03.85.

Moving to the 100-yard breaststroke, Mkhize swam a time of 1:05.57, good for first place. In the same event, Jacob Haase touched the wall in second place with a time of 1:07.75.

In the 50-yard freestyle Morton, Jensen, and Palmer took the top three places with times of 23.66, 23.87, and 24.03.

Pinnow was the top Mustang in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 50.13, good for first place. Teammates Goebel, Haase, and Jensen finished behind him with times of 51.66, 54.16, and 55.06 for third, fourth and fifth places. 

In the 500-yard freestyle Natali touched the wall in second place with a time of 5:39.76 and No touched in third place with a time of 5:47.94.

For the last individual event of the meet, Mkhize and Hanner went second and third in the 200-yard individual medley with times of 2:09.03 and 2:20.39.

Concluding the meet with the 200-yard freestyle relay, Pinnow, Haase, Jensen, and Palmer touched the wall in second place with a time of 1:33.88.

The men's team came out on top for points ranking first overall with 98 points. The Mustangs will be in Fremont, Neb. for the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships on Thursday Feb. 2 through Saturday Feb. 4.