It was a record-setting day for Stillwater junior Jackson Kogler, who set two meet records and contributed to two state-qualifying relays for the Ponies in the Section 4AA finals on Saturday, Feb. 24 at Stillwater Middle School.
Kogler was named Section 4AA Swimmer of the Year and senior Tate Sorensen was honored as the Section 4AA Diver of the Year.
They provided the biggest highlights for the Ponies, who scored 353.5 points to place third behind Woodbury (414.5) and runner-up Mounds View (379). St. Paul Central followed Stillwater in fourth place with 313.5 points.
“I just thought the guys stepped it up real well,” Ponies coach Brian Luke said. “Ninety-eight percent of them had lifetime bests and third was pretty good. Going in, I thought we’d get third or fourth.”
Woodbury is new to Section 4AA this season following realignment by the Minnesota State High School League. The Royals also finished unbeaten on the way the Suburban East Conference championship earlier this season.
“It was a really fun meet,” Luke said, noting the addition of Woodbury to the section since a year ago. “It was a good section and when you’re doing well there you’re doing well.”
Sorensen posted a comfortable victory for Stillwater in the diving competition on Feb. 23 with a score of 448.70. Freshman teammate Grady Flynn placed fourth with a total of 292.05 to join Sorensen at state while junior Maccon Kubitschek just missed after placing fifth with a score of 280.90.
Sorensen defended his section title in the event, but Flynn earned his first state bid with steady improvement all season.
“He got sick and missed a week in the middle of the season, but in January and February you could see him elevate and he was going in the right direction at the right time and stepped it up there,” Luke said. “Our divers all have been solid and we’ve outscored everybody in every meet in diving.”
The top four divers advance to state while the two finishers in each swimming event, plus any meeting the state-qualifying standard, earn a spot in the state meet at the University of Minnesota’s Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center. The state meet began with diving preliminaries and semifinals on Thursday, Feb. 29 and continues with swimming prelims on March 1 and the swimming and diving finals on March 2.
Kogler broke his own school record in the 200 individual medley with a winning time of 1:50.11 and senior teammate Wyatt Fredeen joined him in earning a state bid as the runner-up with a time of 1:57.59.
Kogler also bettered the previous section record of 1:50.48 set in 2017 by JohnThomas Larson of Minnesota Online, who set an all-time state record while winning the event with a time of 1:46.30 one week later.
“That was a good record, too,” Luke said.
Kogler wasn’t finished, either. He set another meet record while winning the 100 backstroke with a time of 49.55, more than three seconds ahead of runner-up Danny Bai (52.80) of Mounds View and faster than the 2018 section record set by Mitchell Whyte (50.01) of North St. Paul.
“He had been in that ballpark at True Team (section), so you never know,” Luke said. “Different times, different race, but he came through again with two new section records and he broke his school record in the IM and was within two one-hundredths in the backstroke.”
Fredeen, Kogler and Cameron Winters each contributed to Stillwater’s relays that advanced to state. Senior Paul Hartmann joined that trio on the team that placed third in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:39.12. St. Paul Central (1:39.22) also bettered the state standard of 1:39.26 to join Stillwater, Woodbury (1:37.39) and Mounds View (1:38.43) in qualifying for state in the event.
Stillwater also qualified for state with a second-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay (3:15.69) with a group that included Kogler, Winters, Sam Loken and Fredeen. Woodbury won the event with a time of 3:13.25.
The Ponies were a little stronger on Saturday than during prelims, where some close calls left some entries just outside the championship heat or outside of the finals.
“I thought we were better on Saturday, but that’s kind of true of everybody when you get all the finals and medals,” Luke said. “We got a bunch of 9ths and 17ths, which is unfortunate, but they had good times to get there.”
Fredeen (4:55.03) placed fourth while Jackson Avery (5:10.99) and Zach Cody (5:11.72) followed in sixth and seventh to deliver a strong showing for the Ponies in the 500 freestyle. Lincoln Wanderer also finished strong with an 11th-place finish in 5:27.56.
Hartman placed sixth in the 100 breastroke (1:04.23) and won the consolation heat in the 200 individual medley (2:12.36) to place ninth in that event. Sam Loken led the Ponies in the 200 freestyle with a seventh-place showing in 1:55.28 while Cody (1:53.05) and Avery (1:56.03) placed 9th and 10th to provide valuable points in the event.
“Hartman did a great job in the relays and two individual events, lifetime best in both of those,” Luke said. “Zach Cody in the 200 was really stepping it up and (Lincoln) Wanderer in the consolation heat — from where he was, is light years ahead.”
The coach has been pleased with the team’s progress all season, getting the most out of a roster that is smaller than many recent seasons.
“They really moved it up,” Luke said. “Lincoln was barely scoring in JV meets a year ago and now he’s in the consolation heat at sections. Kids like that, we had a couple kids in JV that qualified for sections, it’s fun when you ask them to do something they seem to make an effort and fulfill the effort to step up.”
Team standings
1. Woodbury 414.5; 2. Mounds View 379; 3. Stillwater 353.5; 4. St. Paul Central 313.5; 5. Roseville 199; 6. White Bear Lake 188; 7. Tartan 168.5.
Individual results
200 medley relay — *1. Woodbury, 1:37.39; *2. Mounds View, 1:38.43; *3. Stillwater (Wyatt Fredeen, Paul Hartmann, Jackson Kogler and Cameron Winters) 1:39.12; *4. St. Paul Central, 1:39.22.
200 freestyle — *1. Gunnar Seversen (Wo) 1:41.22; *2. Derek Stadheim (Wo) 1:45.03; 7. Sam Loken (St) 1:55.28; 9. Zach Cody (St) 1:53.05; 10. Jackson Avery (St) 1:56.03; 16. Lincoln Wanderer (St) 2:02.63.
200 individual medley — *#Jackson Kogler (St) 1:50.11; *2. Wyatt Fredeen (St) 1:57.59; 9. Paul Hartmann (St) 2:12.36; 10. Ethan Finch (St) 2:16.41.
50 freestyle — *1. Danny Bai (MV) 21.75; *2. Raymond Webb (Wo) 22.29; 9. Cameron Winters (St) 23.70. Prelims: 20. Cooper Larson (St) 25.23; 21. Jaxon Benson (St) 25.51; 22. Levin Winters (St) 25.95.
Diving — *1. Tate Sorensen (St) 448.70; *2. Anthony Parada Romero (WBL) 370.10; *3. Cormac Lee (Ros) 335.10; *4. Grady Flynn (St) 292.05; 5. Maccon Kubitschek (St) 280.90.
100 butterfly — *1. Tyler Quattrin (MV) 53.53; *2. Timothy Farwell (SPC) 55.10. Prelims: 17. Noah Danker (St) 1:03.49; 18. Noah Vu (St) 1:04.85; 19. Bodie Sheffer (St) 1:05.24; 21. Jack Howell (St) 1:08.25.
100 freestyle — *1. Teddy McGuire (Ros) 48.31; *2. Nathan Hare (MV) 48.40; T4. Cameron Winters (St) 51.05; 7. Sam Loken (St) 51.53. Prelims: 17. Cooper Larson (St) 56.48; 21. Levi Winters (St) 58.23.
500 freestyle — *1. Gunnar Seversen (Wo) 4:37.71; *2. Derek Stadheim (Wo) 4:47.03; 4. Wyatt Fredeen (St) 4:55.03; 6. Jackson Avery (St) 5:10.99; 7. Zach Cody (St) 5:11.72; 11. Lincoln Wanderer (St) 5:27.56.
200 freestyle relay — *1. Woodbury, 1:28.64; *2. St. Paul Central, 1:30.15; 4. Stillwater (Sam Loken, Paul Hartmann, Cooper Larson and Zach Cody) 1:36.39.
100 backstroke — *#1. Jackson Kogler (St) 49.55; *2. Danny Bai (MV) 52:80; *3. Teddy McGuire (Ros) 54.48; 10. Ethan Finch (St) 1:02.19; 12. Noah Danker (St) 1:03.12. Prelims: 19. Peter Severson (St) 1:07.22.
100 breastroke — *1. Raymond Webb (Wo) 1:00.36; *2. Nathan Hare (MV) 1:00.59; 6. Paul Hartmann (St) 1:04.23. Prelims: 22. Jaxon Benson (St) 1:15.85; 24. Jack Howell (St) 1:18.79; Johnathan Stanton (St) DQ.
400 freestyle relay — *1. Woodbury, 3:13.25; *2. Stillwater (Jackson Kogler, Cameron Winters, Sam Loken and Wyatt Fredeen) 3:15.69.
* State qualifier
# Section 4AA record
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