Teams: Benilde St. Margaret’s, Bloomington Kennedy, Breck/Blake, Mound Westonka, Orono, St. Anthony
- 2024 Section Champion: Breck/Blake – 547 pts
- 2024 Section Runner-up: Orono – 409 pts
Notable Graduates:
- Andrew Colgan (Breck/Blake) – 200 IM (1st Sections/1st State), 100 Breast (1st Sections/1st State)
- Colin Craig (Breck/Blake) – 50 Free (5th Sections), Diving (1st Sections/5th State)
- Cayden Liao (Breck/Blake) – 50 Free (1st Sections/3rd State), 100 Breast (3rd Sections/2nd State)
- Josiah March (Breck/Blake) – 200 Free (2nd Sections/2nd State), 500 Free (1st Sections/1st State)
- Owen Gagne (Orono) – 200 IM (8th Sections), 100 Breast (4th Sections/7th State)
- Walter Royal (Orono) – 200 Free (4th Sections/7th State), 100 Fly (2nd Sections/4th State)
- Lucas Haenel (Benilde) – 200 IM (5th Sections/12th State), 100 Back (2nd Sections/10th State)
- Samuel Benson (St. Anthony) – 50 Free (4th Sections), 100 Free (4th Sections/12th State)
- Bennett Wartner (St. Anthony) – 200 IM (2nd Sections/6th State), 100 Back (1st Sections/3rd State)
- Sam Nicholson (Kennedy) – Diving (3rd Sections)
- Sid Rezac (Kennedy) – 100 Fly (8th Sections)
- Bryce Helms (Mound Westonka) – 50 Free (2nd Sections/12th State), 100 Free (3rd Sections/10th State)
Team Outlook
We are going to go out on a limb here and say that Breck/Blake is the favorite to win the section in 2025. Senior Henry Webb will lead the way for the Bearstangs after a 1st place finish in the 200 Free and 100 Free and sections, followed by a state championship in the 200 Free and runner up finish in the 100 Free?. Junior Domin Bollettieri was section champion in the 100 Fly and finished 5th in the 100 Breast. At State, he placed 3rd in the 100 Fly and 5th in the 100 Breast. Sophomore Teddy Frerichs finished 3rd in the 200 IM and 4th in the 100 Fly at sections. He would go on to place 10th and 9th respectively at the state meet. Others looking to be strong contributors are sophomore Alex Du, freshman Isaiah Jacob, and senior Ballard Breazeale.
Orono will lean on seniors Justin Barry and Stewart Royal to lead the way in 2025. Barry placed 7th in the 50 Free and 6th in the 100 Free, while Royal placed 6th in both the 200 IM and 100 Fly at sections. Royal finished 13th in the IM at state. Junior Eli Fish had strong championship meets in 2024 finishing 4th in the 200 IM and 3rd in the 500 Free at sections. At the state meet he placed 8th in the IM and 7th in the 500. Junior diver Bjorn Haenchen placed 6th at the state meet and Gideon Fish will look to contend for the state title this season. Sophomore Mitchell Volk was another point scorer for the Spartans at the state meet last year with a 15th place finish in the 100 Back.
Other Notables
Benilde St. Margaret’s will be looking to close the gap on Orono for second in the section. Three seniors will lead the charge this year for the Scarlet Knights. Mason Rokala placed 3rd in the 200 Free and 2nd in the 500 Free at sections last year. At state he finished 8th in both events. Joey Sandhoefner placed 3rd in the 100 Fly and 100 Breast at sections and finished 12th and 4th in his events at the state meet. Lucas Wurst finished 3rd in the 50 Free and 2nd in the 100 Free at sections. At state, he placed 5th in both events.
St. Anthony graduates a couple top line swimmers and will lean on a couple of seniors in 2025. Zach Abelson placed 7th in the 200 Free and 6th in the 500 Free at sections last year. Fellow senior Aidan Conlin finished 5th in the 200 Free and 7th in the 100 Fly. Will Ryberg is the third senior. Ryberg finished 8th in the 50 Free and 6th in the 100 Free.
Bloomington Kennedy also loses some of their top points to graduation. Junior Henry Firnhaber is their top returning point scorer with a 13th place finish in the 200 IM and 11th place finish in the 100 Breast.
Mound Westonka continues to look to grow in their numbers in 2025. Junior Wyatt Helms returns after finishing 11th in the 200 Free and 8th in the 100 Free at sections in 2024.