Teams: Benilde-St. Margaret’s, Blake. Bloomington Kennedy, Breck, Columbia Heights, Fridley, Minneapolis Edison, Minneapolis North Community, Minneapolis Patrick Henry, Minneapolis Roosevelt, Minneapolis South, Minnehaha-Cristo Rey, Robbinsdale Cooper, St. Anthony
- 2022 Section Champion: Breck – 435 pts
- 2022 Section Runner-up: Benilde-St. Margaret’s – 387 pts
Notable Graduates:
- Claire Prindiville (Benilde-St. Margaret’s) – 200 Free (1st Sections/10th State), 100 Free (3rd Sections)
- Lauren Benedict (Benilde-St. Margaret’s) – 50 Free (1st Sections/ 5th State), 100 Fly (2nd Sections/8th State)
- Meagan Englert (Breck) – 200 IM (2nd Sections /7th State), 500 Free (1st Sections/5th State)
- Madry Breazeale (Breck) – 200 IM (5th Sections), 100 Breast (6th Sections)
- Erin Duggan (Breck)- Diving (1st Sections)
- Regan Wight (Minneapolis Roosevelt) – 100 Fly (7th Sections)
- Liv Anderson (Minnehaha-Cristo Rey) – 100 Breast (4th Sections)
- Violet Kachman (St. Anthony) – 50 Free (7th Sections), 100 Free (6th Sections)
- Hadley Wartner (St. Anthony) – 200 Free (5th Sections), 100 Breast (2nd Sections)
Team Outlook
A couple of new teams dropped from Class AA this season in Robbinsdale Cooper and Minneapolis South as they join a section with 14 teams. Leaving the section will be the Richfield Spartans who move up to Class AA. For all the details of the section realignments you can visit our previous article.
Reigning section champion Breck graduates high scoring seniors Megan Englert and Madry Breazeale as well as section champion diver Erin Duggan but return section champions senior Piper Crosby (1st 100 Free/ 2nd 100 Back) and junior Ava Allingham (1st 200IM/1st 100 Breast). Sophomore Greta Wilson, Evelyn Allen, and Sadie Plut also return and will help score some valuable points at the section meet and be potential state qualifiers.
Benilde-St. Margaret’s loses some top point scores in Claire Prindiville and Lauren Benedict but the emergence of sophomore Emma Rudowsky (2nd 200 Free/2nd 500 Free) and return of juniors Harriet White (9th 200 Free/4th 500 Free) and Siri Gudmundson (9th 50 Free/5th 100 Free should help them recover. Senior Elizabeth Long should be a top eight swimmer in the freestyles and provided valuable relay depth.
Blake is in a position to possibly break Breck’s streak of consecutive section team titles. They do not graduate any points from the section meet or relay swimmers. They have four strong seniors in Carly Bixby (1st 100 Fly/1st 100 Back), Maggie Crowley (6th 200 Free/6th 500 Free), Molly Seidel (2nd 50 Free/2nd 100 Free) and Zoey Ueland (4th 100 Fly/6th 100 Back). Also looking to be a factor is junior Karin Lund (4th 200 Free/3rd 500 Free) and sophomore Mercy March (3rd 50 Free/3rd 100 Breast). They will need to develop some depth behind their top swimmers to help them close the gap with Breck.
Other Notables
Minneapolis Roosevelt senior Ana Lesmeister is returning as the second fastest 200 Free from last season in the section and will likely be near the top of the competition in the 500 Free. Roosevelt senior Clara Hofmann placed 5th in the 100 Fly in 2022.
St. Anthony brings back some top section scorers. Senior Celia Wyckoff (3rd 200IM/9th 100 Fly), junior Bridget Myers (9th 200 Free/3rd 100 Back), and junior Maiya Garcia (7th 50 Free/5th 100 Back)
Keep an eye on Bloomington Kennedy eighth grader Kaylee Von Ruden. She finished 7th in the 200 IM and 8th in the 100 Back as a seventh grader last season.
Fridley junior Morgan Erickson will be looking to continue to improve and move up from a 7th place finish in the 100 Breast from 2022.