In a day filled with five new school record performances and numerous lifetime personal bests, the Northfield High School boys swim and dive team claimed a fourth-place finish at the 2024 MSHSL Class A championships, which were held on March 1-2 at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center in Minneapolis.
The Gator/Raiders improved on their sixth-place finish at the state meet in 2023 and only trailed three teams this season in the final point standings: Breck/Blake (327), St. Thomas Academy (224) and Hutchinson (209). The remainder of the top 10 at the state meet included Orono (145), Monticello (144), Benilde-St. Margaret’s (134), Mankato East (113), Delano-Watertown-Mayer (98.5) and Alexandria (92.5).
Junior Josh Kraby played a pivotal role in the team’s success at the meet as he claimed first place honors in the 100 backstroke. Kraby set a school record time in the event’s preliminary race on March 1 and then broke the record again to win the top spot on March 2 with a time of 51.91.
Kraby becomes the first Gator/Raider to win an individual state title in an event since Matt Gallager won the 100 butterfly event in 2007.
“For Josh (Kraby), the stage was not too big. He had a great approach to the meet and kept it all in perspective so he was able to deliver a great swim when it was needed,” NHS coach Doug Davis said about Kraby’s performance at the state meet. “Josh is unflappable. He doesn’t get rattled and has a great approach to how he swims. He is serious, but can joke around and have some fun when needed. He is very coachable and works hard.”
In addition to his title swim, Kraby added points with a second place finish in the 100 butterfly with a new school record time of 51.12. He was also part of Northfield’s 200 medley relay team that placed fourth at state with a school record time of 1:36.20. The team was also comprised of Peyton Truman, Evan Loe and Gabe Heinritz.
Kraby and teammates Jens Kasten, Nick Scheglowski and Will Udelhofen also stepped onto the podium with a fourth place finish in the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:14.68.
Overall, Northfield advanced athletes to the finals in 11 out of 12 events and all seven student-athletes from Northfield who entered the meet earned All-State recognition with top eight finishes at the state meet.
In another school record setting event, the 200 freestyle relay of Kasten, Truman, Scheglowski and Heinritz placed second with a time of 1:36.17, while Truman placed sixth in the 100 breaststroke with a school record time of 57.98.
Truman also claimed a seventh place finish in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:02.32. In the 100 freestyle, Kasten placed seventh with a time of 47.97 and he also placed seventh in the 50 freestyle at 22.11 and Heinritz placed 14th at 22.16.
More top 10 finishes for Northfield were added in the 100 freestyle by Udelhofen with a ninth place time of 1:48.13 and Scheglowski with a 10th place time of 1:48.41. Udelhofen also returned in the 500 freestyle with a 14th place time of 5:01.42.
Northfield should be in good hands next season as the Gators will only lose five seniors from this year’s team. This list of departing Gators includes state qualifiers Kasten, Heinritz, Loe and Peter Larson, who attended the meet as an alternate.
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