Teams: Bloomington Jefferson, Burnsville, Chanhassen/Chaska, Eden Prairie, Minnetonka, Prior Lake, Shakopee, Waconia
- 2024 Section Champion: Minnetonka – 575 pts
- 2024 Section Runner-up: Prior Lake – 419 pts
Notable Graduates:
- Myonghai Choi (Tonka) – 100 Fly (5th Sections)
- Carter Lawin (Tonka) – 100 Back (5th Sections/13th State)
- Mitchell Lesage (Tonka) – 100 Back (4th Sections/16th State)
- Trey Maroney (Tonka) – Diving (2nd Sections/8th State)
- Bennett Molitor-Kirsch – 200 Free (4th Sections/9th State), 500 Free (1st Sections/6th State)
- Nicolas Quintana (Tonka) – 100 Free (5th Sections)
- Kaiden Cheung (Prior Lake) – 200 Free (2nd Sections/5th State), 100 Fly (1st Sections/4th State)
- Victor Trinh (Prior Lake) – 50 Free (1st Sections/4th State), 100 Free (4th Sections7th State)
- Casey Bretz (Chan/Chaska) – 50 Free (3rd Sections/10th State), 100 Free (6th Sections)
- Mark Derouin (Eden Prairie) – 500 Free (5th Sections/12th State)
- Abhijit Reddy Madireddy (Eden Prairie) – 100 Fly (7th Sections)
- Nolan Elg (Waconia) – 100 Fly (8th Sections), 100 Breast (6th Sections)
Team Outlook
Section 2AA features state runner up Minnetonka as well as state third place finisher Prior Lake. Tonka won the section by 160 points last year and though they graduated some state-level talent, they have plenty coming up through the ranks to replace it. Seniors Evan Witte, Reece Carlson, and Daniel Shelstad will lead the charge for the Skippers. All were state qualifiers in 2024. Witte was state champion in the 200 IM and 100 Free, Carlson placed 7th in the 100 Fly, and Shelstad finished 2nd in the 50 Free and 9th in the 100 Breast. Fellow senior Max Louie had an off section meet last season but will likely be a point contributor at the state level this season. Juniors Ben Jabs and Brix Dewitt also fared well at the state meet last year. Jabs placed 4th in the 200 Free and 100 Back and Dewitt finished 7th in the 200 Free and 5th in the 100 Free. Three other juniors found their way to points at the state meet in 2024 as well. Soonhong Chua placed 13th in the 100 Breast, Aiden Larsen was 15th in the 500 Free and William Finucane-Tuccio placed 16th in the 100 Fly. For a shot at the state championship, Tonka will need to excel with its front-line swimmers and use its depth to populate a lot of consolation finals.
Other Notables
Prior Lake loses a couple of top end swimmers but still has plenty left to be one of the top teams in the state. Senior Ethan Kosin returns as state champion in the 100 Back and 3rd in the 100 Free. Returning with him are two seniors that contributed to the Lakers state point total in 2024. Griffin Leining placed 9th in the 100 Fly and Maddox Mork finished 5th in diving. Sophomores Owen Beaudette and Braxton Helmers also had a strong state meet in 2024. Baudette finished 10th in the 100 Breast while Helmers finished 10th in the 200 IM and 5th in the 100 Back. Sophomore Jamey Solt is also on the rise, looking to build on his 10th place finish in the 500 Free last season.
Chanhassen/Chaska only loses two scoring seniors from their 2024 squad and will look to challenge for a top ten spot at state this year. Senior Casey Parker placed 6th in the 200 Free and 3rd in the 500 Free at sections and went on to finish 8th at state in the 500 Free. Fellow Senior Isidore Warain was section champion in the 200 IM and placed 2nd in the 100 Breast. At the state meet, he placed 8th in the 200 IM and 7th in the 100 Breast. Junior Izyndro Warain placed 7th in the 200 IM at sections in 2024 and fellow junior Micah Brecht placed 3rd in diving. Sophomore Ethan Burd looks to improve on his 7th place finish in the 500 Free from 2024.
Eden Prairie will be a fun team to watch this year with the return of Drew Ploof. Ploof swam club in 2024 and in 2023 was 4th at state in the 200 Free and 2nd in the 100 Fly for the Eagles. Senior Vincent Schultze returns after placing 6th in the 50 Free and 8th in the 100 Free at the section meet. Junior Eshaan Salunke finished 8th in the 200 IM and 9th in the 100 Breast in 2024 and will help lead the way this year. Sophomore Eli Drewes will look to build on a strong showing from his freshman year, where he placed 7th at the section meet.
Waconia is another team on the rise in this section. Senior Jack Hackler returns as section and state champion in the 100 Breast. He also was section runner up in the 200 IM and placed 10th at the state meet in that event. Fellow senior Alex Kearney placed 8th in the 200 Free and 7th in the 100 Back at the section meet last season. Junior Sam Swanson is coming off a big club season and looks to build on his 4th place section finish in the 200 IM and 8th place finish in the 100 Breast in 2025.
Shakopee junior Charlie Cutts III was the top point scorer at the section meet last season for the squad. He placed 8th in the 50 Free and 10th in the 100 Free
For Bloomington Jefferson, Senior Brendan Lucas will lead the way for the Jaguars. The sprinter placed 10th in the 50 Free and 9th in the 100 Free at the section meet last year. Freshman Henry Peterson joins the team this year and will look to make his way into the section finals in the 200 Free and 500 Free. Sophomore Franklin Rezac placed 6th in Diving in 2024 and will be vying for one of the top 4 spots this year and a trip to the state meet.
For the Burnsville Blaze, junior Zander Boyko returns as the top point scorer. In 2024, he placed 9th in diving and contributed on two relays.