Teams: Cretin-Derham Hall, Edina, Highland Park/St. Paul Academy, Hopkins, Minneapolis South, Minneapolis Southwest, Minneapolis Washburn, Richfield, St. Louis Park
- 2023 Section Champion: Edina – 602 pts
- 2023 Runner-up: St. Louis Park – 326 pts
Notable Graduates:
- Harrison Crawford (Edina) – 50 Free (7th Sections), 100 Fly (5th Sections)
- Nico Leibert (Edina) – 100 Free, (3rd Sections/5th State)
- William O’Connell (Edina) – 100 Fly (3rd Sections)
- Paul Villafana (Edina) – 200 Free (7th Sections), 500 Free (4th Sections)
- Bob Zhang (Edina) – 50 Free (2nd Sections), 100 Breast (2nd Sections)
- Miles Nording (St. Louis Park) – 200 Free (2nd Sections/6th State), 100 Free (2nd Sections/15th State)
- Miles Rost (St. Louis Park) – 50 Free (4th Sections), 100 Free (6th Sections)
- Lleyton Black (Hopkins) – 100 Free (5th Sections), 100 Breast (4th Sections)
- Ben Kell (Southwest) – 200 Free (5th Sections), 100 Back (2nd Sections)
- Gabriel Bangoura (Highland Park/SPA) – 50 free (5th Sections), 100 Fly (6th Sections)
- Miles Kao (Highland Park/SPA) – 100 Fly (7th Sections)
- Milo Will (South) – 50 Free (6th Sections), 100 Fly (4th Sections)
Team Outlook
Richfield will be joining this section after being moved up to Class AA for this cycle. The Spartans were previously in 2A so they should be used to the strong competition. For all the details of the section realignments, you can visit our previous article.
When a team wins the section by almost 300 points, it’s hard to go against them the next year. Edina is in that position and though they graduate some section points, the core of their 2023 section champion and state runner-up team is intact. Edina is led by junior Jiarui Xue, who returns as section champion in the 200 IM and 500 Free. At the state meet, Xue was the state champion in the 500 Free and runner-up in the 200 IM. Joining Xue will be senior Rohan D’Souza Larson. D’Souza Larson was also a dual section champion in the 50 Free and 100 Breast and placed 3rd and 2nd in those events at the state meet. Senior Jack Goepfrich returns as section champion in both the 200 and 100 Free. Goepfrich finished 7th at state in the 200 Free and managed a 14th place finish in the 100 Free. The Hornets have a particularly strong group of sophomores that will have an impact in this section and beyond for the next few seasons. Sophomores Lucky Biscan, Joe Hemberger, Talan Mcfarlane, and Willy Thurk all placed top 4 in sections in at least one event and top 8 in both of their individuals. Edina has impressive diving too, with 8th graders Kingston Kavati and Edward Frey. Both qualified for the state meet where Kavati placed 2nd.
Other Notables
St. Louis Park senior Daniel Cameron returns after placing 6th in the 200 IM and 2nd in the 100 Fly to lead the way for the Orioles. Joining him near the top will be junior Henry Berg, who placed 3rd in both the 200 and 500 Free, and junior Finley Berry, who finished 7th in the 200 IM and 5th in the 500 Free.
Hopkins returns section champion diver Joseph Rinaldi, who returns for his junior season. On the swimming side, junior Leo Kalvik placed 3rd in the 50 Free and 4th in the 100 Free in 2023 and will be looking to score some state points in those events in 2024.
Southwest sophomore Ethan Holm had a productive 2023 section meet, placing 8th in the 200 Free and 7th in the 100 Free. He will lead the way for the Lakers this season.
Highland Park/St. Paul Academy will have a pair of seniors to help improve their 5th place finish in 2023. Rishi Bhargava placed 8th in the 200 IM and 7th in the 100 Breast last season, while Connor Overgaard finished 8th in the 100 Free and 4th in the 100 Back.
Cretin-Derham Hall will be rebuilding after graduating most of their section points with Matt Bamberger. They are a smaller team but will look to add some numbers to help bolster their section depth. Sophomore Owen Sargent placed 8th in the 500 Free in 2023.
Washburn is another school that will be looking to add some replacements to cover for their graduating class. They have some consolation finals finishers returning and that is always a good place to build from.
Minneapolis South/Roosevelt will rely on sophomore Griffin Larson to carry some of the load in 2024. Larson was the top point scorer last year with a 9th place finish in the 200 IM and 6th place finish in the 100 Breast.
Richfield will try to get its footing in Class AA this season. Junior Tait Johnson placed 7th in diving in section 2A in 2023 and will look to crack the top 4 this year in 6AA. Senior Jacob Noonan placed 9th in the 100 Back in 2A and will be fighting for a top 8 spot this season in the new section.