Boys Swimming: Red Wing takes third

Red Wing head boys swimming and diving coach Gene Petersen said the Wingers usually try to simply get through the Missota Conference meet but Red Wing still secured multiple individual conference titles and placed third Saturday in Northfield.

“We didn’t put up the best times but that was by design,” Petersen said. “We didn’t have a whole lot of people tapered for this meet. For us, the conference meet is the toughest meet of the year … It’s not really one we put a whole lot of emphasis on.”

Chaska/Chanhassen was conference champions with 469 points and Farmington placed second with 441 points. Red Wing finished with 407 points and garnered conference championships in five events and three runners-up. The Wingers defeated both Chaska/Chanhassen and Farmington during regular season competition.

“It goes to show we do have the top level swimmers to swim with the conference,” Petersen said. “Overall, I thought it was a really good meet for us.”

Sophomore Tanner Alms won two individual conference championships for Red Wing, in the 200-yard freestyle and the 500 freestyle, and was on both the 200 freestyle relay and 400 freestyle relay teams that won conference championships.

Senior Andrew Berg captured his first career individual conference title in the 200 individual medley and was on 200 freestyle relay team that placed first. The 200 freestyle relay consisted of Berg, Alms, junior Adam Sienczak and senior Alex Byrne. Alms, Sienczak, sophomore Ethan Myers and senior Connor O’Keefe were members of the 400 freestyle relay team.

Eighth-grader Hunter Connelly finished third in the 100 backstroke and O’Keefe placed second in the 100 butterfly and the 100 breaststroke. Sienczak placed third in the 200 freestyle and Byrne came in seventh in the 50 freestyle. Senior Tormod Langvik-Hansen, of Norway, cut almost a second off his time in the 50 freestyle and finished in 12th place.

“To drop a second is really tough,” Petersen said. “That’s a good drop for him.”

Ninth-grader Chris Byrne was fourth in the diving competition.

The Wingers will compete in the Section 1A prelims next Thursday at the Veterans Memorial Community Center in Inver Grove Heights.

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