Wayzata sneaks up to grab Class 2A swimming and diving title

Much of the pre-meet talk for the Class 2A boys' swimming and diving meet centered on Minnetonka, Eden Prairie and Edina, which had combined to win the last six — and 10 of the last 12 — state titles.

Overlooked was those teams' Lake Conference rival, Wayzata. On Saturday, at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center, the Trojans used a balanced effort to claim its first state swimming title.

The Trojans, who finished 10th last year, had just one individual champion but used six top-four finishes to scored 237 points.

East Ridge, which finished sixth last year, used three first-place finishes — the school's first state titles in boys' swimming — to take second with 194 points. Eden Prairie (169), Hastings (165) and Minnetonka (131) rounded out the top five.

"We qualified the way we needed to, in Friday's preliminaries," said Wayzata coach David Plummer, who is in his first season as a head coach. "Then we took care of business today. We swam really well, all season. We swam well at the Maroon and Gold meet. And, with our tough conference schedule of Eden Prairie, Minnetonka and Edina. We had a good section meet, and definitely thought we had a chance here."

Junior Greg Arnold was the Trojans' lone individual champion, edging Edina's Buzz Rehnberg for the 100-yard freestyle title.

"The win in the 100 freestyle was spectacular," said Plummer. "Greg was just fantastic. He's been good all season for us."

The Trojans' other top-four finishes were a fourth-place finish from Eric Mitchell (diving) and a third-place finish from Christopher Carlstrom (100 butterfly).

Lakeville South senior Mitch Herrera was the only double-winner in Class 2A. Herrera won the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle to help Lakeville South to a seventh-place finish (130 points).

Rosemount senior Daniel Monaghan, the only returning individual champion in Class 2A, finished strong to defend his diving title.

Monaghan, who was in fourth place going into the finals, won with a score of 439.25. He won last year with a score of 413.10.

Minnetonka senior Patrick Quarberg was second with a 438.70 and Eagan senior Toby Heller was third with a 431.90.

Allen and Alms each won two events, while St. Thomas Academy had four first-place finishes en route to its third consecutive state title.

The Cadets finished with 417 points. Breck/Blake was second with 235 points and Fergus Falls third with 150 points.

The Cadets were paced by Sam Johanns. Johanns earned the Cadets' only individual championship in the 100 backstroke. He also swam a leg on all three winning relay teams.

"We really did a good job Friday," Cadets coach John Barnes said. "That [takes the pressure off] so we could go out and have a fun day of racing today."

The 417 points were the Cadets' most at the state meet under Barnes.

The Cadets' 2002 team scored 405 points while winning its fourth consecutive state title.

Allen won the 200 IM and the 100 butterfly to help Fridley earn a fifth-place finish with 129 points. Fridley was 16th at last year's state meet with 60 points.

The state titles were the first for Allen, a senior who had two second-place finishes as a sophomore and two third-place finishes as a junior.

"I talked to my coach [before Friday's preliminaries] and we set up where we wanted to be — in the middle lanes for the finals," said Allen, who has signed a letter of intent to swim for Iowa. "Then today I just went out and executed our race plan."

Allen and Albert Orejuela also swam legs on Fridley's 200 freestyle relay, which finished fourth, and 400 freestyle relay, which finished seventh.

"Winning [a fourth] 500 was important," said Alms, who will swim for Illinois-Chicago next season. "But winning the 200 [for the first time] was equally important. It's amazing to get both."

Alms was second in the 200 last year.

Orejuela was second in the 500 and third in the 200 freestyle.