Records tumbled as Hutchinson dominated the field on the way to its fifth consecutive Section 3A championship Saturday at Hutchinson Middle School.
The Tigersharks rolled up 13 qualifying times and 403 points to claim the title with a 17-point cushion over runner-up Monticello. Hutchinson has won 14 section championships, including the last five in a row.
Senior Conner Hogan led the Hutchinson onslaught, qualifying in four events and breaking three section records. All three of the eclipsed records had stood for 20 years or longer before Hogan’s big day.
But it was certainly more than a one-man show as Hutchinson had a state meet qualifier in every event except diving, getting a pair of swimmers to state in two different events.
And that means the State Class A Swimming and Diving Meet will be a busy affair for the Tigersharks this week at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center. State prelims begin at noon Friday, with the finals getting underway at noon Saturday.
Hutchinson coach Rory Fairbanks — one of three who tied in voting by their peers for Section 3A Coach of the Year — and his staff will be kept busy following:
- The 200-yard medley relay team of Hogan, and juniors Grayson O’Neill, Anthony Witte and Eric Oberg took first place Saturday with a time of 1:36.87, more than three seconds faster that Delano/Watertown-Mayer’s runner-up team.
- Junior Carter Johnson won the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:45.26, more than two seconds faster than his nearest challenge, in an event where four swimmers bettered the state-qualifying time.
- Senior Riley Yerks took third in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:03.28, another even in which four individuals qualified made the state cut.
- Hogan got the first of his section records during a first-place finish in the 50 freestyle. His winning time of 20.55 was .44 hundredths of a second faster than the section record set in 2003. Oh, and he also beat the pool record which stood for a whole day: Hogan posted a new record of 21.02 in the prelims Thursday before going a half-second faster in Saturday’s finals.
- Anthony Witte finished fourth but qualified for state in the 100 butterfly with a time of 55.08.
- Hogan was back atop the medals platform after the 100 freestyle, where he set another section and pool record. The 100 freestyle record was set in 2004 at 46.04 seconds, but Hogan went 45.28.
- Joining Hogan on the platform in the 100 freestyle was fellow Hutchinson senior Riley Yerks, who finished third with a state-qualifying time of 49.02. Six of the eight swimmers in the finals made the state-qualifying cut.
- Johnson returned to the top of the medals platform in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:52.37.
- Standing next to Johnson following the 500 was eighth-grader Leyton Yerks, who had the runner-up time of 5:00.08.
- Hutchinson’s 200 freestyle relay team of Oberg, Jackson Kramer, Riley Yerks and Johnson finished runner-up. The Tigersharks’ time of 1:28.81 was just seven-hundredths of a second behind section championship Montevideo.
- Anthony Witte finished third in the 100 backstroke, but met the state-qualifying cut with his time of 55.35.
- O’Neill took third in the 100 breaststroke with a qualifying time of 1:00.52.
- Hutchinson’s final section record-breaking performance came in the final race of the day as the team of Johnson, Anthony Witte, Riley Yerks and Hogan blazed to a time of 2:13.09 in the 400 freestyle relay. The time was more than two seconds faster than the old Section 3A mark set in 2004, and also broke the pool record of 3:14.68 that was set in 2007.
