Records fell and state tickets were punched Saturday as Hutchinson’s boys swimming and diving team successfully defended its Section 3A Championship in Willmar.
When the Tigersharks won the section title last year it had been after an 11-year drought. Now the boys are celebrating the team’s 11th section championship ever, and their first back-to-back titles since 2002 and 2003.
Hutchinson dominated the meet, winning seven events and racking up 499.5 points for a 107-point lead on second-place Monticello. The Tigersharks even made history with several Willmar pool records along the way. The 200 yard medley relay team of Conner Hogan, Noah Tague, Tristin Nelsen and Dan Thovson kicked off the meet with a record time of 1:37.66. Hogan also set pool records in the butterfly (51.2) and backstroke (51.65), while Tague set pool records in the individual medley (1:58.24) and breastroke (58.68). His breaststroke time was even fast enough to take down a Section 3A record from 2013.
Other section champions were Matthew Olberg in the 500 freestyle and the members of the 200 freestyle relay team: Tague, Alex Oestreich, Tristin Nelsen and Olberg.
But the ’Sharks needed more than first-place finishes to repeat as section champs. They needed depth, and the team delivered. Hutchinson had 18 section medalists (top eight), including three runners-up, two third-place finishers and three fourth-place finishers.
Besides winning the section title, Hutchinson had another big goal Saturday: to qualify as many swimmers and divers for state as possible. Although they had several competitors just miss, the team still finished with 12 state qualifiers, at least one in each event except the 100 yard freestyle.
All three of Hutchinson’s relay teams qualified for state, including the second-place 400 freestyle relay team of Hogan, Thovson, Oestreich and Olberg. Olberg also qualified in the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle, while teammate Carter Johnson just missed the cut in the 500 by less than a second.
Hogan is moving on to state individually in the butterfly and backstroke. His teammate Nelsen also made the cut in the fly, while Anthony Witte just miss in the backstroke by about four seconds.
Thovson was the team’s lone sprinter to qualify for state individually, taking third in the 50 freestyle while his teammate, Oestreich took fourth and just missed by two tenths of a second. Oestreich did qualify for state in diving, however, thanks to a second-place finish. His teammate Cameron Wagner, however, just missed with a fifth-place finish.
Lastly, Tague made the cut in the individual medley and breaststroke. Nelsen almost joined him at state in the IM, but he fell short by about two seconds.
The ‘Sharks are off to state now at the University of Minnesota aquatic center, but it will be done differently this year due to COVID-19 restrictions. Along with no fans or media allowed at the event, there won’t be any prelims and both the swimming and diving portions of the meet will happen in one day each.
State starts with the diving competition Thursday at 6 p.m. The Class A state swimming meet is Saturday, with Sections 1, 3 and 5 beginning at noon. That is when Hutchinson will compete, but then swimmers in Section 2, 4 and 6 will go at 6 p.m., and the times from both sessions will be compared.
Although fans won’t be able to watch the competitions in person, a live stream will be available. Visit mshsl.org/sports-and-activities/swimming-diving-boys for more information.
Section 3A Championship (March 13)
Team score: 1. Hutchinson 499.5, 2. Monticello 392.5, 3. Willmar 350, 4. St. Cloud Apollo 249, 5. Princeton 197, 6. Montevideo 179, 7. Dassel-Cokato/Litchfield 149
200 medley relay: 1. Hutch (Conner Hogan, Noah Tague, Tristin Nelsen, Dane Thovson) 1:37.66
200 freestyle: Ayden Schueler (Wil) 1:48.7; 2. Matthew Olberg 1:49.29; 7. Riley Yerks 1:56.11; 11. Max Einck 1:59.84; 13. Carter Johnson 2:01.32
200 IM: 1. Noah Tague (H) 1:58.24; 5. Tristin Nelsen 2:10.84; 8. Ethan Field 2:15.27; 12. Theo Lakovic 2:18.08
50 freestyle: 1. Isaac VanHoorik (Mont) 22.42; 3. Dane Thovson 23.06; t4. Alex Oestreich 23.26; 16. Charlie Jenum 25.37; 24. Carter Juhnke 27.88
Diving: 1. Tony McNiff (Prin) 402.6; 2. Alex Oestreich 397.8; 5. Cameron Wagner 328.75
100 butterfly: 1. Conner Hogan (H) 51.2; 3. Tristin Nelsen 56.46; 9. Anthony Witte 59.49; 13. Ethan Field 1:01.91
100 freestyle: 1. Ayden Schueler (Wil) 49.23; 4. Dane Thovson 51.01; 6. Jackson Kramer 52.48; 16. Cameron Wagner 56.62; 22. Clayton Moore 58.86
500 freestyle: 1. Matthew Olberg (H) 4:59.81; 4. Carter Johnson (H) 5:10.19; 5. Riley Yerks 5:15.55; 8. Max Einck 5:23.63
200 free relay: 1. Hutch (Noah Tague, Alex Oestreich, Tristin Nelsen, Matthew Olberg) 1:31.54
100 backstroke: 1. Conner Hogan (H) 51.56; 5. Anthony Witte 1:00.9; 7. Jackson Kramer 1:02.16; 10. Clayton Moore 1:04.56
100 breaststroke: 1. Noah Tague (H) 58.68; 6. Theo Lakovic 1:07.03; 10. Charlie Jenum 1:09.64; 14. Carter Juhnke 1:12.96
400 free relay: 1. Willmar (Colin O’Farrell, Ethan Hurley, Ben Seelhammer, Ayden Schueler) 3:17.77; 2. Hutch (Conner Hogan, Dane Thovson, Alex Oestreich, Matthew Olberg) 3:20.13
