Swimming: Cougars pick up momentum going into state

South boys win Section 1AA championship

Lakeville South continued its magical run in 2023-24 by winning the Section 1AA boys swimming and diving championship in the Cougars’ home pool.

Despite seed points that had them finishing as runner-up to Rochester Century, the Cougars won the title at Blanchard Aquatic Center on Feb. 23 with 443 points over the runner-up Century Panthers’ 408.

“Going into the meet as underdogs was motivating for our team,” said South head coach Rick Ringeisen. “Hosting the Section 1AA was a confidence boost.

“Our team visualized their races, goal times, and becoming section champions. All that was left was to hit the water and make it happen. Across the board, from top to bottom, our guys swam their best times and moved up from their seed points. It was a fitting end to the leadership of our senior class, with all contributing to the victory.”

The Cougars started by breaking pool and section records in the 200-yard medley relay. The team of Grady Evenson, Ethan LaBounty, Noah Cochran and Henry Breza was nearly four seconds ahead of Century, touching in a time of 1 minute, 34.39 seconds. Their time is an All-America consideration (AAC), and they head into state with the second-fastest qualifying time.

Gage Boushee nabbed an individual AAC time, South’s next win and a pool record in the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:50.05. Boushee also won the 100 freestyle in 46.66 with his second pool record of the meet.

LaBounty earned another AAC time in the 100 breaststroke, winning in 56.44 and setting the Blanchard Aquatic Center record and the Lakeville South school record. He took the sprint title in the 50 freestyle, touching nearly one second ahead of the rest of the field in 21.36 for his third pool record of the day.

Cochran finished second in the 100 butterfly (51.70), while Evenson brought home gold with 50.50. Evenson repeated that feat in the 100 backstroke, winning with a time of 51.14. Both of Evenson’s winning times were pool records.

Evenson, a sophomore, was four seconds ahead of his nearest competitor in the backstroke and heads into state ranked third in both events.

“For our top athletes, the section meet was a competition to savor while on the way to qualifying for state,” said Ringeisen. “We (also) picked up a bonus relay along with the expected qualifiers by going with a soft split of our power across the two free relays. That accomplishment is a huge factor for our team at state this year, and established important state meet experience for returning lettermen next year.”

South finished second in both freestyle relays, qualifying for state in each.

Combined, the Cougars advance seven individual swims, all three relays and one diver. “I am excited about our excellent seeds for this week’s Class AA state swimming and diving meet,” Ringeisen said.

Diving

South senior standout Porter Woodson three-peated, winning Section 1AA diving in record-breaking fashion to advance to state.

Woodson blew away his previous Blanchard Aquatic Center record in 11 dives, pushing his degree of difficulty as high as 3.0. Two of Woodson’s individual dives scored above 50 points, with a final tally of 468.45 points to claim gold.

“I couldn’t have done it without my prayers,” said Woodson.

Oddly enough, Woodson’s record lasted only four hours. Section 1A held its diving competition later in the day Feb. 22 and Red Wing sophomore Zachary Mikkelson of Red Wing scored 472.20 points to break Woodson’s record.

Lakeville North’s Alex Byer finished second with 412.65 points and qualified for state for the fourth consecutive year.

The feel-good surprise of the meet was North’s Caleb Baldeshwiler, who finished fourth and earned his first trip to the state meet.

“I’m very excited, and a little nervous too,” said Baldeshwiler, who scored 333.05 points to edge Henry Hilgendorf of Owatonna (327.70).

“It’s the first time in a long time that two North divers have advanced to State,” said diving coach Summer Pierick. “The boys have worked very hard leading up to sections to get in the shape they were in. At state, we will be hoping to see Alex improve on last year’s placement, and we will be watching Caleb to see just what he can do.”

South’s Breckin McGill jumped up two spots from his finish last year, earning sixth place with 314.75 points. “I felt good and I earned a PR (personal record),” said McGill.

Meanwhile, the other highlight of the meet for South was swimmer and former diver Brandon Clark. Clark, who competed in the South Suburban Conference junior varsity meet two weeks ago, responded to the call to try to earn points in diving and polished 11 dives in a little more than a week.

Clark has not dived for the team since the 2021-22 season, but he managed 15th place to earn two points for the Cougars.

Farmington senior Cyrus Elrod, the only other South Suburban Conference diver in the section meet, improved 52.60 points from his entry to finish 11th with 192.95 points.

Lakeville North

Lakeville North coach Dan Schneider was enthusiastic about how his young team performed at sections. “We had a very good section meet with many lifetime bests. Many of our younger swimmers had great (swims). I really could list all the boys: Kellan Krance, Tyler Hultgren, Parker Mann, Aiden Sorlie, Harshu Raju, Adyan Syed, Oliver Snaza, Jonathan Colbert and Luke Hoffman. Isaac Snaza had a good meet as well, and I think my swim of the meet was Aaron Larkin’s 100 breast swim in the prelims. Harshu’s 100 free split on the 400 free relay (52.6) was another great swim.”

Junior Jonah Hoffman had one of the most exciting wins of the meet. Hoffman raced Storm Swim Club teammate and friend Brendan Panka to the finish in the 200 freestyle, holding on for the victory in 1:44.80, only four hundredths ahead of Panka. Both advance to face each other again at the state meet Friday and Saturday at the University of Minnesota Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center. Hoffman was also victorious in the 500 freestyle, dropping over seven seconds from his preliminary time to cement the victory in 4:48.34.

Senior captain Cooper Krance advanced in both of his individual events, punching his ticket behind Boushee in the 200 IM (1:55.25) with a second-place finish. He also qualified in the 100 breaststroke, hitting the wall at 57.37 with another second-place finish.

The Panthers advance four individual swims and two divers to state. North finished third in the Section 1AA team standings with 311 points.

Farmington

Senior Jake Peterson is capping an excellent senior season by clinching state berths in the 200 IM and 100 butterfly.

Peterson was third in the IM, but swam a state-qualifying time to advance, going 1:56.22. He repeated that feat in the butterfly, finishing fourth but again clinching a berth with a time of 52.45.

Peterson was the lone Farmington athlete to advance to state. He also was part of the Tigers’ 400 freestyle relay that finished fourth, with his 48.31 anchor leg the fastest on his team. Peterson led the Tigers to a team finish of fourth with 214 points.

Awards

Lakeville South swept the Section 1AA awards. Ringeisen was named the Section 1AA Head Coach of the Year, while Cougar coaches Erik Knutsen, Vince Breza and Jen Marshall were named Assistant Coaches of the Year. South’s Derek Moulton was named the Diving Coach of the Year, an award he has earned for at least five years running.

Porter Woodson was named the Diver of the Year for the third consecutive year, while Gage Boushee was named Swimmer of the Year in Section 1AA for the second straight year.

Farmington, South and North also earned the Academic Gold Standard, awarded to teams maintaining a combined grade-point average of 3.75-4.00. They were three of only four teams in Section 1AA that achieved the highest possible academic standing.

North State Qualifiers:

Caleb Baldeshwiler - Diving State Qualifier

Alex Byer - Diving State Qualifier

Jonah Hoffman - 200 Free & 500 Free Section Champion & State Qualifier

Cooper Krance - 200IM & 100 Breast State Qualifier

North Section Medalists:

200 Medley Relay – Parker Ehrreich, C. Krance, J. Hoffman, Aaron Larkin; 3rd

200 Free - Isaac Snaza, 6th

50 Free – A. Larkin, 8th

500 Free – I. Snaza, 4th; Luke Hoffman, 6th

200 Free Relay - C. Krance, A. Larkin, P. Ehrreich, J. Hoffman; 5th

100 Back - Parker Mann, 8th

100 Breast – A. Larkin, 4th

400 Free Relay - L. Hoffman, Harshu Raju, Kellan Krance, I. Snaza; 7th

North Section Consolation Finalists:

200 Free – L. Hoffman, Consolation Champion

200 IM – K. Krance, 10th; Tyler Hultgren, 12th; Aiden Sorlie, 15th

100 Fly – T. Hultgren, 16th

100 Free – P. Ehrreich, 12th

500 Free – K. Krance, 11th

100 Breast - Oliver Snaza, 11th; A. Sorlie, 15th

South State Qualifiers:

Porter Woodson – Diving Section Champion & State Qualifier

Grady Evenson, Ethan LaBounty, Noah Cochran, Henry Breza – 200 Medley Relay Section Champion & State Qualifier

Gage Boushee – 200 IM & 100 Free Section Champion & State Qualifier

Ethan LaBounty – 50 Free & 100 Breast Section Champion & State Qualifier

Grady Evenson – 100 Fly & 100 Back Section Champion & State Qualifier

Noah Cochran – 100 Fly State Qualifier

Gage Boushee, Noah Cochran, Henry Breza, Ethan LaBounty – 200 Free Relay State Qualifier

Connor Zak, Gage Boushee, Brendan Mattson, Grady Evenson – 400 Free Relay State Qualifier

South Section Medalists:

200 IM – B. Mattson, 5th; Isaac DeMaster, 6th

50 Free – N. Cochran, 3rd

100 Fly – Nathan Hotchkiss, 8th

100 Back – B. Mattson, 3rd

100 Breast – I. DeMaster, 5th

South Section Consolation Finalists:

200 Free – Brody Suby, 10th; Brenden Beach, 13th; Carter Nesbitt, 15th

200 IM – Aiden Nguyen, 13th

50 Free – H. Breza, 10th; Tyler Pihlstrom, 15th

100 Fly – A. Nguyen, 13th

100 Free – H. Breza, 10th; C. Zak, 11th; T. Pihlstrom, 16th

500 Free – B. Suby, Consolation Champion; B. Beach, 10th; C. Nesbitt, 12th; Brody Moritz, 16th

100 Back – C. Zak, Consolation Champion; N. Hotchkiss, 14th

100 Breast – Dylan McHale, 16th

Farmington State Qualifier:

Jake Peterson – 200 IM & 100 Fly State Qualifier

Farmington Section Medalists:

200 Medley Relay – Daniel Budde, Tyler West, William Grimm, Ethan Lyons; 6th

200 Free – Hantruy Nguyen, 7th; Justin Raymond, 8th

50 Free – Adam Moorlach, 6th

100 Free – A. Moorlach, 8th

500 Free – J. Raymond, 5th; H. Nguyen, 7th

200 Free Relay – A. Moorlach, T. West, H. Nguyen, J. Peterson; 6th

400 Free Relay – A. Moorlach, J. Raymond, H. Nguyen, J. Peterson; 4th

Farmington Section Consolation Finalists:

200 IM – Hudson Maakestad, 11th

100 Fly – D. Budde, 12th; H. Maakestad, 14th

100 Free – T. West, 15th

100 Back – D. Budde, 11th

Lakeville South continued its magical run in 2023-24 by winning the Section 1AA boys swimming and diving championship in the Cougars’ home pool.Despite seed points that had them finishing as runner-up to Rochester Century, the Cougars won the title at Blanchard Aquatic Center on Feb. 23 with 443 points over the runner-up Century Panthers’ 408. “Going into the meet as underdogs was motivating for our team,” said South head coach Rick Ringeisen. “Hosting the Section 1AA was a confidence boost. “Our team visualized their races, goal times, and becoming section champions. All that was left was to hit the water and make it happen. Across the board, from top to bottom, our guys swam their best times and moved up from their seed points. It was a fitting end to the leadership of our senior class, with all contributing to the victory.”The Cougars started by breaking pool and section records in the 200-yard medley relay. The team of Grady Evenson, Ethan LaBounty, Noah Cochran and Henry Breza was nearly four seconds ahead of Century, touching in a time of 1 minute, 34.39 seconds. Their time is an All-America consideration (AAC), and they head into state with the second-fastest qualifying time.Gage Boushee nabbed an individual AAC time, South’s next win and a pool record in the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:50.05. Boushee also won the 100 freestyle in 46.66 with his second pool record of the meet.Ethan LaBounty earned another AAC time in the 100 breaststroke, winning in 56.44 and setting the Blanchard Aquatic Center record and the Lakeville South school record. He took the sprint title in the 50 freestyle, touching nearly one second ahead of the rest of the field in 21.36 for his third pool record of the day.South senior captain Noah Cochran finished second in the 100 butterfly (51.70), while Grady Evenson brought home gold with 50.50. Evenson repeated that feat in the 100 backstroke, winning with a time of 51.14. Both of Evenson’s winning times were pool records.Evenson, a sophomore, was four seconds ahead of his nearest competitor in the backstroke and heads into state ranked third in both events. “For our top athletes, the section meet was a competition to savor while on the way to qualifying for state,” said Ringeisen. “We (also) picked up a bonus relay along with the expected qualifiers by going with a soft split of our power across the two free relays. That accomplishment is a huge factor for our team at state this year, and established important state meet experience for returning lettermen next year.” South finished second in both freestyle relays, qualifying for state in each.Combined, the Cougars advance seven individual swims, all three relays and one diver. “I am excited about our excellent seeds for this week’s Class AA state swimming and diving meet,” Ringeisen said.

DivingSouth senior standout Porter Woodson three-peated, winning Section 1AA diving in record-breaking fashion to advance to state.Woodson blew away his previous Blanchard Aquatic Center record in 11 dives, pushing his degree of difficulty as high as 3.0. Two of Woodson’s individual dives scored above 50 points, with a final tally of 468.45 points to claim gold. “I couldn’t have done it without my prayers,” said Woodson.Oddly enough, Woodson’s record lasted only four hours. Section 1A held its diving competition later in the day Feb. 22 and Red Wing sophomore Zachary Mikkelson of Red Wing scored 472.20 points to break Woodson’s record.Lakeville North’s Alex Byer finished second with 412.65 points and qualified for state for the fourth consecutive year. The feel-good surprise of the meet was North’s Caleb Baldeshwiler, who finished fourth and earned his first trip to the state meet. “I’m very excited, and a little nervous too,” said Baldeshwiler, who scored 333.05 points to edge Henry Hilgendorf of Owatonna (327.70).“It’s the first time in a long time that two North divers have advanced to State,” said diving coach Summer Pierick. “The boys have worked very hard leading up to sections to get in the shape they were in. At state, we will be hoping to see Alex improve on last year’s placement, and we will be watching Caleb to see just what he can do.”South’s Breckin McGill jumped up two spots from his finish last year, earning sixth place with 314.75 points. “I felt good and I earned a PR (personal record),” said McGill. Meanwhile, the other highlight of the meet for South was swimmer and former diver Brandon Clark. Clark, who competed in the South Suburban Conference junior varsity meet two weeks ago, responded to the call to try to earn points in diving and polished 11 dives in a little more than a week.Clark has not dived for the team since the 2021-22 season, but he managed 15th place to earn two points for the Cougars.Farmington senior Cyrus Elrod, the only other South Suburban Conference diver in the section meet, improved 52.60 points from his entry to finish 11th with 192.95 points.

Lakeville NorthLakeville North coach Dan Schneider was enthusiastic about how his young team performed at sections. “We had a very good section meet with many lifetime bests. Many of our younger swimmers had great (swims). I really could list all the boys: Kellan Krance, Tyler Hultgren, Parker Mann, Aiden Sorlie, Harshu Raju, Adyan Syed, Oliver Snaza, Jonathan Colbert and Luke Hoffman. Isaac Snaza had a good meet as well, and I think my swim of the meet was Aaron Larkin’s 100 breast swim in the prelims. Harshu’s 100 free split on the 400 free relay (52.6) was another great swim.”Junior Jonah Hoffman had one of the most exciting wins of the meet. Hoffman raced Storm Swim Club teammate and friend Brendan Panka to the finish in the 200 freestyle, holding on for the victory in 1:44.80, only four hundredths ahead of Panka. Both advance to face each other again at the state meet Friday and Saturday at the University of Minnesota Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center. Hoffman was also victorious in the 500 freestyle, dropping over seven seconds from his preliminary time to cement the victory in 4:48.34.Senior captain Cooper Krance advanced in both of his individual events, punching his ticket behind Boushee in the 200 IM (1:55.25) with a second-place finish. He also qualified in the 100 breaststroke, hitting the wall at 57.37 with another second-place finish. The Panthers advance four individual swims and two divers to state. North finished third in the Section 1AA team standings with 311 points.

FarmingtonSenior Jake Peterson is capping an excellent senior season by clinching state berths in the 200 IM and 100 butterfly.Peterson was third in the IM, but swam a state-qualifying time to advance, going 1:56.22. He repeated that feat in the butterfly, finishing fourth but again clinching a berth with a time of 52.45. Peterson was the lone Farmington athlete to advance to state. He also was part of the Tigers’ 400 freestyle relay that finished fourth, with his 48.31 anchor leg the fastest on his team. Peterson led the Tigers to a team finish of fourth with 214 points.

AwardsLakeville South swept the Section 1AA awards. Ringeisen was named the Section 1AA Head Coach of the Year, while Cougar coaches Erik Knutsen, Vince Breza and Jen Marshall were named Assistant Coaches of the Year. South’s Derek Moulton was named the Diving Coach of the Year, an award he has earned for at least five years running. Porter Woodson was named the Diver of the Year for the third consecutive year, while Gage Boushee was named Swimmer of the Year in Section 1AA for the second straight year. Farmington, South and North also earned the Academic Gold Standard, awarded to teams maintaining a combined grade-point average of 3.75-4.00. They were three of only four teams in Section 1AA that achieved the highest possible academic standing.

North State Qualifiers:Caleb Baldeshwiler - Diving State Qualifier Alex Byer - Diving State Qualifier Jonah Hoffman - 200 Free & 500 Free Section Champion & State Qualifier Cooper Krance - 200IM & 100 Breast State Qualifier

North Section Medalists:200 Medley Relay – Parker Ehrreich, C. Krance, J. Hoffman, Aaron Larkin; 3rd 200 Free - Isaac Snaza, 6th 50 Free – A. Larkin, 8th 500 Free – I. Snaza, 4th; Luke Hoffman, 6th 200 Free Relay - C. Krance, A. Larkin, P. Ehrreich, J. Hoffman; 5th 100 Back - Parker Mann, 8th 100 Breast – A. Larkin, 4th 400 Free Relay - L. Hoffman, Harshu Raju, Kellan Krance, I. Snaza; 7th

North Section Consolation Finalists:200 Free – L. Hoffman, Consolation Champion200 IM – K. Krance, 10th; Tyler Hultgren, 12th; Aiden Sorlie, 15th 100 Fly – T. Hultgren, 16th 100 Free – P. Ehrreich, 12th 500 Free – K. Krance, 11th 100 Breast - Oliver Snaza, 11th; A. Sorlie, 15th

South State Qualifiers:Porter Woodson – Diving Section Champion & State QualifierGrady Evenson, Ethan LaBounty, Noah Cochran, Henry Breza – 200 Medley Relay Section Champion & State QualifierGage Boushee – 200 IM & 100 Free Section Champion & State QualifierEthan LaBounty – 50 Free & 100 Breast Section Champion & State QualifierGrady Evenson – 100 Fly & 100 Back Section Champion & State QualifierNoah Cochran – 100 Fly State QualifierGage Boushee, Noah Cochran, Henry Breza, Ethan LaBounty – 200 Free Relay State QualifierConnor Zak, Gage Boushee, Brendan Mattson, Grady Evenson – 400 Free Relay State Qualifier

South Section Medalists:200 IM – B. Mattson, 5th; Isaac DeMaster, 6th 50 Free – N. Cochran, 3rd 100 Fly – Nathan Hotchkiss, 8th 100 Back – B. Mattson, 3rd 100 Breast – I. DeMaster, 5th

South Section Consolation Finalists:200 Free – Brody Suby, 10th; Brenden Beach, 13th; Carter Nesbitt, 15th 200 IM – Aiden Nguyen, 13th 50 Free – H. Breza, 10th; Tyler Pihlstrom, 15th100 Fly – A. Nguyen, 13th100 Free – H. Breza, 10th; C. Zak, 11th; T. Pihlstrom, 16th500 Free – B. Suby, Consolation Champion; B. Beach, 10th; C. Nesbitt, 12th; Brody Moritz, 16th100 Back – C. Zak, Consolation Champion; N. Hotchkiss, 14th100 Breast – Dylan McHale, 16th

Farmington State Qualifier:Jake Peterson – 200 IM & 100 Fly State Qualifier

Farmington Section Medalists:200 Medley Relay – Daniel Budde, Tyler West, William Grimm, Ethan Lyons; 6th200 Free – Hantruy Nguyen, 7th; Justin Raymond, 8th50 Free – Adam Moorlach, 6th100 Free – A. Moorlach, 8th500 Free – J. Raymond, 5th; H. Nguyen, 7th200 Free Relay – A. Moorlach, T. West, H. Nguyen, J. Peterson; 6th400 Free Relay – A. Moorlach, J. Raymond, H. Nguyen, J. Peterson; 4th

Farmington Section Consolation Finalists:200 IM – Hudson Maakestad, 11th100 Fly – D. Budde, 12th; H. Maakestad, 14th100 Free – T. West, 15th100 Back – D. Budde, 11th