Northfield boys swim and dive completes regular season with perfect meet record

The Northfield High School boys swim and dive team completed its 2023-24 regular season with a perfect 9-0 dual meet record, thanks to a pair of Big 9 victories over the last week.

On Thursday, Feb. 1, the Gator-Raiders rolled to a 95-72 win over Owatonna at the Northfield Middle School Aquatic Center. To wrap up the dual meet season, Northfield brought home a 92-86 win at Mankato East on Saturday, Feb. 3.

The Northfield junior varsity team also won both dual meets, which included a 104-40 victory at Mankato East.

“The win also secures another undefeated season for them,” Northfield coach Doug Davis said of the Junior Varsity team’s decision at Mankato East. “They finished 9-0 as well and have pushed their streak of wins to 94 in a row since their last dual meet loss. That loss happened back in 2014. An impressive accomplishment that these boys are very proud of and are working hard to continue.”

At the varsity level, the Gator-Raiders won nine-of-12 events and posted just over 20 season/lifetime bests as the team preps for the upcoming conference, section and state meets. Northfield is currently rated number two in the state among Class A teams.

“The final dual meet in Mankato is always a great experience because of my connections to the program,” Davis said. “I attended Mankato East and swam six years for the late coach Tim Johnson. We have a close bond with the coaches and boys on their team and each home team hosts a relaxing potluck following the meet for the visitors. On Saturday, the East parents provided food for our boys and traveling families. It was an awesome experience.”

To open the meet at Mankato, Northfield’s Josh Kraby, Peyton Truman, Jens Kasten and Gabe Heinritz won the 200 medley relay at 1:39.28. The wins continued with Will Udelhofen posting a top time of 1:54.92 in the 200 freestyle and Truman won the 200 IM with a time of 2:08.43.

In the 50 freestyle, Kasten won the event at 22.82 and Grayson Gray led the 1M diving event with a score of 175.40. Other first place finishes at Mankato included Udelhofen in the 500 freestyle (5:25.14), Kraby in the 100 backstroke (56.97) and Truman in the 100 breaststroke (1:01.24). Northfield also claimed the top finish in both the 400 free relay and placed second in the 200 free relay.

In the meet against Owatonna, Northfield saluted its senior class of Berndt Espina, Heinritz, Kasten, Peterson Larson and Evan Loe.

“The seniors got to be spectators and cheerleaders for most of the meet as four of our most ‘seasoned’ seniors chose to celebrate their final meet by swimming the “Gauntlet” — the last four events of the meet in a row. It was fun and very emotional watching them close out the meet and the win,” Davis said.

Once again, Northfield opened the meet with a win in the 200 medley relay followed by wins by Udelhofen in the 200 freestyle and Truman in the 200 IM. Kraby added a first place finish in the 50 freestyle and Gray placed second in the 1M diving.

Kraby continue his evening of success with a first place finish in the 100 butterfly and Nick Scheglowski placed second in the 100 freestyle. In the 500 freestyle, Udelhofen won the race with a time of 5:19.80.

The “Gauntlet” started with Northfield’s 200 free relay team of Kasten, Heinritz, Truman and Kraby winning with a time of 1:28.64, while the NHS team of Loe, Larson, Rourke Bennett and Udelhofen placing second at 1:36.70. In the 100 backstroke, Kasten won with a time of 1:04.55 and Loe placed second at 1:04.56.

Kasten continued his strong run with a first place finish in the 100 breaststroke at 1:07.05, while Heinritz placed second at 1:09.19. In the final event of the day, Northfield’s team of Scheglowski, Oliver Momberg, Odin Bergs and Udelhofen placed first in the 400 freestyle relay at 3:32.39 followed by Heinritz, Loe, Larson and Kasten in second at 3:42.17.

This weekend, Northfield will participate in the varsity and junior varsity Big 9 championships. The diving will be held at the Northfield Middle School Aquatic Center on Friday, Feb. 9 beginning at 2:30 p.m. The Big 9 swimming events will be held on Saturday, Feb. 10 at the Rochester Recreation Center Pool.