Section 3AA swimming: Wildcats repeat themselves

Team champion Eagan has state qualifiers in eight events

Eagan was the team to beat at the Section 3AA boys swimming and diving meet – and nobody did.

The Wildcats qualified athletes for the state meet in eight events, including all three relays, while winning the section team championship Feb. 23 at Two River High School. Apple Valley and Rosemount also qualified athletes for state through Section 3AA.

The Class AA state meet starts at 6 p.m. Thursday with diving preliminaries. Swimming preliminaries are 6 p.m. Friday, and swimming and diving finals are 6 p.m. Saturday. All competition is at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center at the University of Minnesota.

Eagan junior Braden Hegenbarth is one of the top seeds in what appears to be a highly competitive 50-yard freestyle event. His winning time of 21.18 seconds at the Section 3AA finals puts him in the No. 2 seed at state, just .02 behind Wayzata senior Gray Sisco. Seven swimmers, including Hegenbarth, are within two-tenths of a second of Sisco’s qualifying time.

Eagan senior Derek Bang’O also advanced in the 50 freestyle after finishing third in the section final in 21.54, which was under the state qualifying cutoff.

Owen Kipp, a senior who finished fourth in Class AA diving last year, earned another chance to go to state in the event by finishing second in the section competition Feb. 22. Kipp took second with 537.95 points. Two-time defending state champion Lucas Gerten of Rosemount won with 568.80, a section record. Gerten and Kipp both scored higher than the existing state meet all-time record.

Eagan junior Stone Larson also will compete at state in diving after finishing third in the section.

Hegenbarth won the section 100 freestyle championship in 47.79 and is seeded 10th at state.

Miguel San Jose, a senior, advanced in the 200 freestyle after winning the Section 3AA final in 1 minute, 46.38 seconds. He finished second in the 100 backstroke in 53.80, good for a spot in the state meet.

Bang’O, Hegenbarth, Riley McRoberts and Louis Decattoire won the section 200 freestyle relay in 1:29.11, making them the No. 11 seed at state. Decattoire, Brad Simpson, Dobbin Chong and San Jose took second to East Ridge in the 400 freestyle relay in 3:16.95 (the top two finishers in each swimming event automatically qualify for state). San Jose, Chong, Bang’O and Hegenbarth placed third in the 200 medley relay, but their time of 1:38.23 beat the state qualifying standard.

Gerten has Rosemount’s best chance to win an event at state, but several other Irish athletes could make noise in the Class AA finals. Senior Quinlan Schroeder goes in as the No. 2 seed at state in the 100 breaststroke after winning the section championship in 56.05. Three South Suburban Conference swimmers are among the top five seeds in the breaststroke.

Rosemount senior Jackson Preusse also advanced in the breaststroke after finishing second in the section finals in 59.19.

Also advancing for Rosemount in individual events are Schroeder, second in the section 200 individual medley in 1:58.36; senior Josh Sikorski, third in the 50 freestyle in 21.76; and junior Will Durfee, first in the 500 freestyle in 4:51.97.

Rosemount will compete at state in the 200 medley relay after finishing second in the section to East Ridge in 1:35.87. The Irish are seeded fourth in the event at state. The Irish’s 200 freestyle relay also qualified after placing second in 1:29.19.

Apple Valley state qualifiers are sophomore Gabe Lenzen, who took second in the 200 freestyle in 1:47.69, and senior Joven Langseth, third in the 100 backstroke in 54.40.