Section 1A
Teams: Albert Lea, Austin, Faribault, Mankato East, Mankato West, Northfield, Red Wing, Simley, Winona
- 2023 Section Champion: Northfield – 393 pts
- 2023 Section Runner-up: Mankato East – 354 pts
Notable Graduates:
- Kenny Cabeen (Austin) – 50 Free (4th Sections), 100 Free (3rd Sections/12th State)
- Winston Walkup (Austin) – 200 IM (1st Sections), 100 Back (4th Sections)
- Chriztopher Ferris (Faribault) – Diving (8th Sections)
- Aaron Caflisch (Mankato East) – 50 Free (8th Sections), 100 Back (7th Sections)
- Nick Brauer (Mankato East) – 200 Free (3rd Sections/7th State), 100 Back (8th Sections/13th State)
- Cole Javens (Mankato East) – Diving (2nd Sections/7th State)
- Ethan Bartell (Mankato West) – 100 Fly (5th Sections), 100 Back (6th Sections)
- Sullivan Jacobs (Mankato West) – 100 Brest (3rd Sections/11th State)
- Jason Taylor (Mankato West) – 50 Free (3rd Sections/14th State), 100 Free (7th Sections/11th State)
- Hunter Collins (Simley) – 100 Breast (4th Sections)
- Ethan Gregg (Simley) – 100 Fly (7th Sections)
- Lucas McMonigal (Simley) – 100 Breast (7th Sections)
- Marioys Makar (Simley) – Diving (5th Sections)
- John Tabor (Simley) – 200 Free (5th Sections), 500 Free (4th Sections)
- Jared Loos (Winona) – 200 IM (3rd Sections), 100 Fly (8th Sections)
- Colin White (Winona) – 100 Free (6th Sections), 100 Back (3rd Sections/6th State)
Team Outlook
Section 1A will not experience many changes with the section realignments. New Prague will be moving up to Section 1AA and taking some state caliber swimmers with them. You can visit our previous article here.
Northfield will return this season as the favorite in 1A to repeat from last season. They graduated very few section points and return a slew of state qualifiers. Leading the way will be senior Jeff Kasten, who will look to repeat as section champion in both the 50 Free and 100 Breast. Kasten went on to place 3rd in the 50 Free and 9th in the 100 Breast at the state meet. Sophomore Will Redetzke returns as the runner-up in the 200 Free and section champion in the 500 Free – 4th and 9th respectively at the state meet. Junior Josh Kraby finished 6th at the section meet in the 50 Free last year and 2nd in the 100 Back, while fellow junior Nick Scheglowski placed 4th in sections in both the 200 and 100 Freestyles. Another junior, Peyton Truman, will be looking to improve on his runner-up finish in both the 200 IM and 100 Breast. Junior Erick Granquist, who finished 7th last year in diving, will be making a push for one of the top 4 sports and qualifying for the state meet this season.
2023 Runner-up Mankato East will be led by senior Jordan Hogue and sophomore Elliot Bartell. Hogue was section champion in the 100 Free and 100 Back, while Bartell was section champion in the 100 Fly and placed 5th in the 50 Free. Hogue went on to place 3rd at the state meet in both his individual events. Junior diver Spencer Flitter placed 6th last season at sections in will be in the hunt for one of the state qualifying spots.
Other Notables
Looking to make up for a good chunk of graduated points, Austin will rely on sophomore Brent Dahl and senior Zach Evenson. Dahl placed 3rd in the 500 Free and 5th in the 100 back, while Evenson was 4th in the 200 Free and 5th in the 100 Free. Junior Lucas Myers will also make some noise after placing 4th in the 200IM and 9th in a competitive breaststroke field in 2023.
Simley will likely be in a rebuilding year after some top-end graduations, but Christian Jack will look to finish off his high school career, building on his 7th-place finish in the 200 IM and 10th-place finish in the 100 Back.
Winona will also continue to rebuild after graduating significant section points. Keep an eye on senior Elijah Vieth, who placed 8th in the 200 Free and 9th in the 500 Free in 2023.
Mankato West will have a very young team going into the season and will look to build on sophomore Ephraim Staley’s section performance in 2023. Staley finished 8th in the 100 Free and 16th in the 500 Free.
Red Wing will be led by junior Ethan Ihrke and sophomore Zachary Mikelson. Ihrke placed 7th at sections in the 50 Free and 3rd in the 100 Fly. Mikkelson had a strong meet, winning the section championship in diving, and went on to place 10th at the state meet the following week.
Faribault will continue in rebuilding mode with a young team, but improvement is on the horizon. Freshman Asher Ferris placed 9th in diving and will continue to develop and there is a solid group of juniors looking to help the team take the next step.
Albert Lea will be looking to continue to add new boys to the program and create a foundation to build from.