After waiting 11 years, the Tigersharks are back on top of the Section 3A Championship.
Hutchinson’s boys swimming and diving team locked up its first section title since the 2008-09 season. Along the way, the ’Sharks won five races and qualified for state in each event. That means seven boys will make the trip to the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center next week for the Class A Boys Swimming and Diving State Championship.
“It feels great,” said Conner Hogan, a two-time section champion with the ’Sharks. “My second year on the team and putting forth my best effort, it feels great.”
“Our goal was to win all three of the big team meets: true team sections, conference and sections,” said Noah Tague, who won three races at the section meet. “We achieved that, so that was really good. Really good team effort.”
Hutchinson set the tone of the meet right off the blocks by winning the 200 medley relay with the team of Hogan, Tague, Tristin Nelsen and Devon Bode. From there, the Tigers continued to roll. Even in events that they didn’t win, they still had someone finish in the top three to qualify for state.
“We brought them in a little early this morning before the warm-up and just went over what happened (in prelims),” head coach Rory Fairbanks said. “I told them they had a shot to put someone in at every single event. … They really stepped up and did it.”
Taking first in both his races — the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke — was Tague, who was particularly pleased with his win in the IM.
“Kind of surprising, the IM especially,” he said about his wins. “That was like a 5-second drop (from prelims), and I thought the guy that was in first going into the finals was going to beat me, but I somehow won it.”
Matthew Olberg also won a section title in the 500 freestyle and took second in the 200 freestyle, and Hogan won the 100 backstroke and finished third in the 100 freestyle. Hogan was hoping to win his freestyle event and was surprised to take first in the backstroke.
“I was not expecting to win that. I saw (Willmar’s Ben Seelhammer) at the wall and I was like, ‘I can beat this kid.’ I was expecting to win the 100 free instead of the 100 back. (Seelhammer is) fast … but I defeated him I guess.”
It wasn’t just section champs who punched their tickets to state. The top three finishers in each swimming event qualified, along with the top four divers. Bode took third and made the cut by 0.17 seconds in the 50 freestyle, Tristin Nelsen took second in the butterfly, Alex Oestreich took second in diving, and Hutch’s two freestyle relay squads finished second: the 200 freestyle relay team of Hogan, Nelsen, Dane Thovson and Olberg and the 400 freestyle relay team of Olberg, Thovson, Bode and Tague.
In the team scoring, Hutchinson led most of the way but had Willmar nipping at its heals. The Cardinals took the lead briefly following the 50 and 100 freestyle races, but otherwise Hutch led the way. Fairbanks said the Tigersharks had about a 15-point lead on paper going into the meet, and in the end they won by 29 points to claim the team’s 10th section title in school history.
“They really stepped up,” Fairbanks said. “We swam well (in prelims) and had four guys that weren’t shaved or suited, so we knew they had some room to go. But even the ones that were (shaved and suited) swam as well or better today (at finals).”
The win was also a milestone in Fairbanks’ career. After 20 years coaching boys and girls swimming in Hutchinson, this was his 20th section title. He was also named the Section 3A Coach of the Year.
Five ‘Sharks seeded to medal
Seven Tigersharks will make the trip to Minneapolis for the state tournament noon Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Feb. 27-29, at the U of M. Diving prelims are Thursday, swimming prelims are Friday and finals are Saturday.
While Hutchinson has competitors in every event for the prelims, it will be up to them to determine if they’ll have a full slate of returners for the finals Saturday. The top 16 swimmers from prelims move on to the final day, and those who finish in the top eight of prelims qualify for the championship heat and medals.
According to their times from sections, the Tigersharks have top 16 swimmers in nine of their 11 races and are seeded to medal in five. The 200 medley relay team is seeded fifth, the 200 freestyle relay team is seeded eighth and the 400 freestyle relay team is seeded 13th.
Individually, Olberg is seeded seventh in the 500 freestyle and ninth in the 200 freestyle, Tague is seeded eighth in the individual medley and ninth in the breaststroke, and Hogan is seeded sixth in the backstroke and 13th in the 100 freestyle.
The other two ’Sharks who are not seeded to qualify for the finals are Bode, who is seeded 21st in the 50 freestyle, and Nelsen, who is seeded 19th in the butterfly. Just because they aren’t seeded for the finals, however, doesn’t mean they can’t surprise the field.
Section 3A Championship (Feb. 21-22)
Teams: 1. Hutchinson 449, 2. Willmar 420, 3. Monticello 396, 4. Princeton 197, 5. St. Cloud Apollo 191, 6. Montevideo 181, 7. Dassel-Cokato/Litchfield 164
200 medley relay (7): 1. Hutch (Conner Hogan, Noah Tague, Tristin Nelsen, Devon Bode) 1:40.21
200 freestyle (19): 1. Ayden Schueler (Wil) 1:45.12; 2. Matthew Olberg 1:46.98; 6. Dane Thovson 1:55.35; 10. Max Einck 1:58.81; 11. Riley Yerks 1:59.91
200 IM (21): 1.Noah Tague (H) 2:01.65; 4. Tristin Nelsen 2:07.29; 8. Gabe Stassen 2:17.41; 13. Anthony Witte 2:20.87
50 freestyle (26): 1. Jacob Meyer (Wil) 22.37; 3. Devon Bode 23.20; 17. Ben Becker 25.21; 18. Charlie Jenum 25.51; 20. Cameron Wagner 26.00
Diving (12): 1. Dakotah Parker (Mtv) 470.50; 2. Alex Oestreich (H) 419.75; 5. Cameron Wagner 335.0
100 butterfly (25): 1. Sean Cooney (STC) 53.99; 2. Tristin Nelsen 55.89; 6. Gabe Stassen 58.35; 9. Alex Oestreich 1:01.58; 11. Ethan Field 1:03.22
100 freestyle (26): 1. Ayden Schueler (Wil) 48.30; 3. Conner Hogan 49.36; 14. Ben Becker 55.52; 17. Jackson Kramer 56.66; 21. Carter Johnson 58.71
500 freestyle (19): 1. Matthew Olberg (H) 4:57.83; 4. Dane Thovson 5:15.68; 5. Riley Yerks 5:17.63; 6. Max Einck 5:19.96
200 free relay (7): 1. Willmar (Jacob Meyer, Colin O’Farrell, Logan McGillivray, Ayden Schueler) 1:30.13; 2. Hutch (Conner Hogan, Tristin Nelsen, Dane Thovson, Matthew Olberg) 1:30.45
100 backstroke (26): 1. Conner Hogan (H) 54.22; 7. Anthony Witte 1:02.78; 8. Jackson Kramer 1:06.50; 17. Grant Kropp 1:11.64
100 breaststroke (24): 1. Noah Tague (H) 1:01.28; 9. Charlie Jenum 1:09.93; 14. Ethan Field 1:14.07; DQ—Devon Bode
400 free relay (7): 1. Willmar (Jacob Meyer, Colin O’Farrell, Ben Seelhammer, Ayden Schueler) 3:16.80; 2. Hutch (Matthew Olberg, Dane Thovson, Devon Bode, Noah Tague) 3:23.18
