Teams: Farmington, Lakeville North, Lakeville South, New Prague, Owatonna, Rochester Century, Rochester John Marshall, Rochester Mayo
- 2023 Section Champion:  Lakeville North – 373 pts
- 2023 Section Runner-up: Rochester Century – 304 pts
Notable Graduates:
- McKenna Hultgren (Lakeville North) – 100 Fly (5th Sections/16th State), 100 Back (3rd Sections)
- Izzy Satterlee (Lakeville North) – 100 Free (2nd Sections/8th State), 100 Breast (2nd Sections/7th State)
- Alexa Van Dyne (Lakeville North) – 200 IM (4th Sections), 100 Fly (9th Sections)
- Ashley Miranda-Limon (Lakeville North) – 200 Free (6th Sections), 500 Free (4th Sections)
- Grace Barrone (Century) – 100 Breast (4th Sections)
- Paige Magnuson (Century) – 200 IM (7th Sections), 100 Fly (12th Sections)
- Madeline Nemergut (Mayo) – 500 Free (8th Sections), 100 Back (13th Sections)
- Karissa Bell (Mayo) – 200 IM (8th Sections), 500 Free (7th Sections)
- Sam Oeltjen (Mayo) – 200 Free (3rd Sections), 500 Free (1st Sections/8th State)
- Daphne Fox (Lakeville South) – Diving (1st Sections/5th State)
- Payten Schieffer (New Prague) – 200 IM (2nd Sections), 100 Fly (4th Sections/7th State)
- Nellie Dalsin (New Prague) – Diving (2nd Sections/12th State)
- Ella Lund (New Prague) – 100 Fly (11th Sections), 100 Back (8th Sections)
- Kate Lentsch (Farmington) – 50 Free (6th Sections), 100 Free (7th Sections)
- Sommer Krause (Farmington) – 200 Free (5th Sections), 100 Free (6th Sections)
- Arielle Thurber (Owatonna) – Diving (6th Sections)
- Elice Tolman (Owatonna) – Diving (7th Sections)
- Laken Meier (Owatonna) – 50 Free (8th Sections), 100 Free (10th Sections)
Team Outlook
This section saw Lakeville North take the title with some room to spare in 2023, winning by 69 points over second-place Rochester Century. North loses some firepower to graduation and it will be interesting to see if they have enough returning to pull off a repeat. Junior Payton Hultgren returns as section runner-up in the 50 Free and placed 3rd in the 100 Fly. She would go on to place 9th in both at the State meet. Fellow junior Whitney Szorcsik was section runner-up in the 200 IM and placed 7th in the 100 Breast. Senior Addie Marsolek placed 7th in the 50 Free and 9th in the 100 Free in 2023 and should add some strength to the relays. Freshman Theresa Anderson finished 8th in the 200 Free and 6th in the 500 Free last season and will look to break into the top 4 this year.
Second through fifth place in the team standing were only separated by 30 points in 2023. Rochester Century will be led by junior Sophie Blixt. Blixt was section champion in both the 50 Free and 100 Breast and went on to place 9th and 3rd at the state meet, respectively. Junior Chloe Magnuson finished 5th in the 50 Free and 7th in the 100 Fly last year and will be a key component to the relays in 2024. Junior Sarah Homme will look to add some points by moving up from her 8th place finish in the 100 Free. Senior Natalie Homme placed 7th in the 100 Back. Junior Bree Brockman returns after finishing 5th in the 500 Free and 14th in the 200 Free in 2023. Sophomore JiaYin Jian-Gross had an outstanding section meet last year with a 4th place finish in the 100 Back. Finally, junior Addison Krause placed 7th in the 200 Free and 14th in the 100 Fly.
Rochester Mayo will be led by junior Madeline Gau. Gau was runner-up in the 100 Fly at the section meet and placed 4th at the state meet. She was also section champion in the 100 Back where she placed 7th at the state meet. Sophomore Emelia Fischer placed 6th in the 200 IM and 8th in the 100 Breast at last year’s section meet. Fellow sophomore Corrina Tonn finished 8th in the 100 Fly and 9th in the 50 Free in 2023. A third sophomore, Elise Weingarten, was a 5th place finisher in the 100 Free and section runner-up in the 100 Back. Senior Gabriella Lee will lead the way for Mayo in the breaststroke after placing 6th last season.
Lakeville South will be in the mix again as well, with a lot of youth in their top tier. Junior Adriana Clemon returns as section champion in the 50 Free and 100 Fly. Clemon placed 3rd in both events at the state meet in 2023. Sophomore Taylor Hintz returns as section runner-up in the 200 Free and 500 Free. She placed 15th and 13th respectively at the state meet. Freshman Lily Wilkinson also finaled in the 200 Free in 2023, placing 4th and later placing 3rd in the 500 Free. Fellow freshman Madison Parent placed 3rd in the 50 Free and 4th in the 100 Free last season. This quartet should give the Cougars some nice relays. If they can continue to progress to the next tier and take the next step, South could be in the mix,
New Prague will be led by junior Taylor Bassett who placed 4th in the 50 Free and 3rd in the 100 Free in 2023. Senior Diver Ava Bruegger finished 5th in sections last year by a little over a point and will be looking to earn her first state appearance this season. 8th Grader Aspen Schieffer gained a 5th place finish in the 100 Back in her first section meet and sophomore Carolyn DeLuca placed 5th in the 100 Breast. The Trojans have several swimmers who will be pushing for their first top 8 finishes this season after falling a little short last year.
Other Notables
Julia Ogren is back for Rochester John Marshall. Ogren was section champion in the 200 Free and 100 Free and went on to place 3rd in both at the state meet. Senior diver Shannon Penny placed 3rd last year at the section meet and will be the top returning diver this season.
Farmington will be rebuilding some after graduating some top scoring seniors. Junior Taylor Gergen placed 6th in the 100 Fly and 3rd in the 100 Breast in 2023. Freshman Micaela Cardona earned a 6thplace finish in the 100 Back and a 9th place finish in the 200 Free last season.
Owatonna senior Mya Dutton is one of the top returning divers in the section and will be looking to build on her first state appearance from 2023.