Pioneers enter a strange land, encounter the Norse

Grinnell was the clear favorite, but Luther kept it interesting

The Driftless Area

Luther College is in Decorah, Iowa which has a geography that is surprisingly un-Iowa.

I mean, Iowa is flat. That’s not a bug, that’s a feature. Over the previous couple of centuries, Iowa was perfectly situated, and flat enough, to become a producer - on an unprecedented scale - of two things essential to the development of Chicago and the American Midwest. Corn and hogs. When you think of the development of the city of Chicago (Nature’s Metropolis according to historian William Cronon) and the entire region to which it was inextricably linked, you think about two things - Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle (meat-packing) and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (livestock and crops of all kinds, but especially corn and hogs). For that, it really helps that Iowa was close-by and really flat.

But that’s not Decorah. Geographically speaking, Decorah is more like the Yucatan than like the rest of Iowa. Seriously, the glaciers that steamrolled the entire state of Iowa somehow missed Decorah. That left behind a landscape of gorges and waterways. This geographic formation is called ‘The Driftless Area’, a name with a poetic, somber resonance.¹

Iowa’s Driftless Area

But while Decorah somehow dodged the glaciers, it did not dodge a massive meteor that - 470 million years ago - hit the Decorah area like an atomic bomb. Decorah is basically built in a big crater. And like the Yucatan, this massive meteor blast created a system of caves, underground waterways, sinkholes, springs and cold streams. In the Yucatan, they are called cenotes. In Iowa, that’s just called ‘good trout fishing.’

Much later it seems that Scandinavian immigrants wandered into Decorah, looked around and decided that it looked like home. There they settled. Decorah is renowned for its Norwegian-American culture, evident in the hosting of Nordic Fest. The Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum is the largest museum dedicated to a single immigrant group in the United States. The Decorah Posten, a Norwegian language newspaper, was published in the city until 1972.

And, also, since 1861, Decorah has been home to Luther College, home of The Norse.

Luther can dive

Luther has some very good swimmers. And Luther punches a little above its weight-class because they pile-up the points during dive events.

These days, the primary in-conference² opponent for Luther are the Prairie Wolves of Nebraska Wesleyan.

SwimCloud often ranks NWU above Luther based solely on swims. But in swim/dive meets, those dive points count, even if SwimCloud literally does not count them. So, Luther is sneaky good at scoring points in swim meets.

Now, Luther should lose to Grinnell. Grinnell won their conference - the Midwest Conference - every year since COVID. Grinnell has fabulous facilities and is, as they used to say, filthy rich. They also have a starkly Prussian logo, which adds to the intimidation factor.

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Luther hung in there against Grinnell

Perhaps building off the spirit of Senior Day, Luther really did make this a competitive meet. A lot of the credit for that goes to Colin Halverson, the American Rivers Conference Men's Swimming and Diving Performer of the Week. Mr. Halverson, securing his fourth such honor, dominated the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events against Grinnell on Saturday.

The Luther men's team also saw victories from Kevin Kretz in the 50 freestyle and Drew Chamberlain in the 100 backstroke, among others. Their efforts contributed to six event wins for the Norse, with notable second and third-place finishes across various events.

I mean, Luther still lost. It is Grinnell after all. But Luther’s Men made it interesting.

On the women's side, Luther kept it even closer, with a really strong showing, despite falling to Grinnell 162-135. The team clinched seven events, including both diving categories (way to go Kate Denner), and with standout performances from 1st-Year Hayley Crosland in the 200 and 500 freestyle.

For Grinnell, this is a solid win

First, Grinnell was on the road. Road wins mean more. And, second, Luther wasn’t just going to roll over and play dead. Molly Ryan and Sarah Lopez led the Pioneers with four wins each. Ms. Ryan's backstroke victories and Ms. Lopez's butterfly and medley wins were among the highlights.

On the men's side, Ethan Yuen stood out in 100 Breast and 100 Fly, and also contributed to the Grinnell relays.

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Luther gets an extra week to prepare for their invitational that will include, among others, an NAIA team - Saint Ambrose University - that is likely to put up a bit of a fight.

Grinnell’s next really interesting opponent is NESCAC’s Connecticut College, but that meet is scheduled for Grinnell’s Florida training trip (January 6, 2024), so I don’t know if that is going to be a real competition.

Next week Nebraska Wesleyan takes on conference opponents Simpson in dual meet, and the following weekend they make their way to Chicago for the Phoenix Classic which should be a hoot.³

1. The defining characteristic of the Driftless Area is the absence of glacial drift, which is the mix of silt, gravel, and rocks typically left behind by retreating glaciers. Unlike the surrounding regions that were smoothed and flattened by glacial activity during the last Ice Age, the Driftless Area was not covered by ice during the Pleistocene epoch, resulting in its rugged landscape. It is noteworthy for its steep terrain and an extraordinary concentration of cold water streams.

2. The American River Conference, or A-R-C.

3. I mean, look at this lineup: Arizona, Chicago, NYU, Saint Louis, Truman State, William Jewell, DePauw, UW-Oshkosh, Ohio Northern, NWU, and Illinois Tech.