Teams: Cretin-Derham Hall, Hill-Murray, Mahtomedi, Mounds Park Academy, North High School – North St. Paul, Simley, South St. Paul, St. Paul Como Park, St. Paul Harding, St. Paul Humboldt/Washington, St. Paul Johnson, Visitation
- 2022 Section Champion: Visitation – 554 pts
- 2022 Section Runner-up: Cretin-Derham Hall – 304.5 pts
Notable Graduates:
- Lucy Berg (Visitation) – 100 Fly (4th Sections/7th State)
- Elizabeth Burke (Visitation) – 200 Free (3rd Sections/3rd State), 500 Free (2nd Sections/2nd State)
- Anna Farley (Visitation) – 200 IM (1st Sections/1st State), 100 Fly (1st Sections/2nd State)
- Faith McAdam (Visitation) – 200 Free (5th Sections/7th State), 100 Fly (2nd Sections/4th State)
- Ella Passe (Visitation) – 200 Free (1st Sections/1st State), 500 Free (1st Sections/1st State)
- Megan Gerend (Visitation) – 100 Breast (3rd Sections/7th State)
- Sydney Armstrong (Mahtomedi) – 200 Free (9th Sections), 500 Free (7th Sections/11th State)
- Ella Matson (Mahtomedi) – 200 IM (4th Sections/14th State), 100 Fly (7th Sections)
- Stella Anderson Moye (Simley) – 200 Free (6th Sections/11th State), 100 Free (4th Sections/10th State)
- Valery Henkel (Hill Murray) – 100 Fly (3rd Sections/15th State), 100 Breast (1st Sections/13th State)
- Ava Johnson (Hill Murray) – Diving (3rd Sections/16th State)
Team Outlook
A bit of change in this section for the 2023 season due to updated section assignments. Chisago Lakes and Lakes International move to Section 6A and Two Rivers moves up to Class AA. In diving, seven of the top eight either graduate or are moving out of the section. North High School – North St. Paul and St. Paul Harding move down from Class AA to take the two open team spots. For all the details of the section realignments, you can visit our previous article. This section still features the second, third and fourth place teams at the state meet last season.
One would think that graduating close to 200 section points and 160 state points would decimate a team, but not for Visitation. For reference, only two other teams scored more than 160 points at state in 2022. Visitation returns top section talents in seniors Kathryn Bonneville, Iris Huerta, Tessa Lindstrom, and Grace Nilsson. These four combined for over 120 points in individual events in the 2023 section meet. Add in juniors Maggie Farley, Lucia Lazarus, and Katie Miller, the team should be in great shape to run away with this section and the state meet this year.
Cretin-Derham Hall should take a step forward this year with not graduating any section points and building off a strong second place team finish in the section in 2022. CDH will have seniors Isabel Macheel, Molly Magnuson, Lillian Moore, and Olivia Reeder leading the way. Macheel was second in the 50 and 100 Free at sections and had a strong showing at the state meet with thirteenth and seventh place finishes, respectively. Magnuson placed eighth in the 100 Fly and third in the 100 Back and managed to crack the top sixteen win the 100 back at state. Moore placed seventh in the 200 Free and sixth in the 100 Breast and should be a state qualifier in both this season. Reeder, a breaststroke specialist placed second at sections. Junior Maeve Johnson returns as a top eight finisher in both the 200 IM and 100 Back while junior Sara Linder placed third in the 50 Free and eight in the 100 Free at sections. She went on to place sixteenth in the 50 Free at state.
Mahtomedi will be led by freshman Abigail Wright. Wright returns as section champion in the 50 and 100 Free and placed fourth in both at the state meet. Joining Wright will be senior Emmerson Buckley. Buckley placed tenth in the 200 IM and fourth in the 100 Back in 2022. She also held pivotal spots on Mahtomedi’s 200 Medley and 400 Free relays. Mahtomedi has excellent depth and will be looking for that next generation of swimmers to take the next step to help them compete.
Other Notables
Mounds Park Academy senior Isabel Espinosa was second in the 200 Free at sections and fifth at the state meet. She was also fifth in the 100 Fly in sections and just outside the top sixteen at state. Sophomore Alaina Biebel had a strong season in 2022, placing fifth in the section in the 200 IM and ninth at the state meet in the same event.
Hill-Murray loses quite a bit to graduation, but senior Lindsey Phelan will return as the top diver in the sections and should be in good position to qualify for the state meet in 2023.
St. Paul Como Park sophomore Aleia Lueck placed sixth in the 50 Free and eighth in the 100 Back last season. She went on to the state meet in the 50 Free where she just finished outside the top sixteen in prelims.
Simley senior Madeline Ngo placed second in the 100 Back at sections and eleventh at state. She also placed ninth at sections in a loaded 200 IM, finishing just off the state cut. Look for Madeline to be an impact swimmer for Simley this year.
South St. Paul will look to continue to grow with their very young team and only graduating two athletes. Look for them to start to place more swimmers in the top sixteen at sections in 2023.
St. Paul Johnson returns a small team, but one packed with leadership in five seniors. If they can continue to bring in some younger swimmers, they should see some solid team improvement in 2023.
St. Paul Humboldt/Washington only graduated one athlete and has a very young team that will look to continue to improve in 2023.
North High School – North St. Paul and St. Paul Harding get some relief by moving to Class A. Both are smaller teams looking to build on the 2022 season.