November 9
Garr Punnett - Lake Forest College
Freshman - St. Paul, Minn.
Punnett started his career with victories in the 50- (22.23) and 100-freestyle (49.12) as well as the 200-freestyle relay in Lake Forest’s victory over Monmouth on Saturday, October 30. He then placed second in the 200-backstroke (2:01.30), 100-butterfly (54.42), 400-medley relay, and 200-freestyle relay in a loss at Carthage College last Friday. His times in the 50-free, 100-free, and 100-fly are the best in the conference so far this season and his mark in the 200-back ranks second in the league and 39th in the nation.
November 16
Michael Brus - Grinnell College
Freshman - Davenport, Iowa
Michael Brus, a freshman from Davenport, Iowa (North): Brus was a triple winner for Grinnell as the Pioneers opened their new pool in dominating fashion during a dual meet with Luther College. Brus took first in the 400-yard IM in 4:22.46 and 100 backstroke in 53.69, and was part of the winning 400 medley relay team that had a time of 3:39.64. Grinnell beat Luther by a score of 154-80. Both times are tops for the conference so far this season.
November 23
Zach Wenner - Lake Forest College
Freshman - Chicago, Ill.
Wenner swam the fastest times in the conference this year the 100-freestyle (48.97) and 200-freestyle (1:48.04) as Lake Forest placed fourth at the University of Chicago’s Phoenix Fall Classic last weekend. He also finished the 200-IM in 2:04.36, which ranks second in the league. Wenner placed among the top 11 in all three events at the highly-competitive meet, including fifth in the 200-free. In addition, he had the fastest leg on the 400-freestyle and 800-freestyle relays and anchored the 200-medley relay, helping all three post the MWC’s top times this season.
December 7
Michael Brus - Grinnell College
Freshman - Davenport, Iowa
Brus was a perfect 9-for-9 in his events at the first-ever Pioneer Classic, winning all nine events he competed in during the two-day event. Individual wins came in the 200-yard IM (2:00.73), 100 backstroke (53.68), 200 backstroke (1:59.83) and 400 IM (4:18.06). He also swam on four winning relays - the 200 freestyle (1:29.65), 400 freestyle (3:17.34), 800 freestyle (7:21.89), 200 medley (1:39.74) and 400 medley (3:41.32). Grinnell won the 11-team meet.
January 11
Glen Dworsky - Ripon College
Freshman - Kikenny, Minn.
Dworsky helped the Red Hawks defeat Carroll on Saturday, as he was a part of four first-place finishes. He came within two seconds of breaking a pair of school records, winning the 50 yard freestyle and 100 yard backstroke with times of 23.76 and 57.59, respectively. Dworsky was also a part of Ripon’s winning 200 yard medley and 200 yard freestyle relay teams, swimming the first leg in both events.
January 18
Alex Schneider - Carroll University
Freshman - Madison, Wis.
Schneider won two individual events and a pair of relay races to lead the Carroll University men’s swimming and diving team to a 91-80 head-to-head victory over Beloit College. Schneider won the 200 backstroke (2:12.44) and 400 IM (4:45.25) and added wins in the 200 medley relay (1:49.14) and 200 freestyle relay (1:36.43)
January 25
Michael Brus - Grinnell College
Freshman - Davenport, Iowa
Brus had a dominating performance at the Grinnell College Invitational over the weekend, recording four Midwest Conference-leading performances. Among those were winning efforts in the 100-yard freestyle (48.09), 200 backstroke (1:56.07) and 400 individual medley (4:15.58), as well as the 500 freestyle (4:45.30) in which he finished second. Brus also guided four Pioneer relays to runner-up finishes.
February 1
Tyler O’Neill - Knox College
Junior - Bloomington, Minn.
O’Neill won two events for the Prairie Fire Saturday against Illinois College and Eureka College in Jacksonville, IL. He placed first in the 100 Yard Breaststroke, defeating the runner up by 1.68 seconds. O’Neill was also victorious in the 100 Yard Butterfly, easily outdistancing the runner-up in the race (by more than 10 seconds). In addition to his individual wins, he anchored the Prairie Fire men’s first-place 200 Yard Freestyle relay team that edged Eureka College by .15 of a second.
February 8
Patrick Duvall - Beloit College
Senior - West Lafayette, Ind.
In the final home meet of his career Duvall won three events to help lead Beloit to a win in their triangular meet with Knox and Carroll. DuVall won the 100 Back in a season-best :56.22, the fourth-fastest time in the MWC this season; the 50 Free in :23.27; and the 500 Free in a season-best 5:12.08.