Teams: Champlin Park, Irondale, Maple Grove, Osseo, Park Center, Robbinsdale Armstrong-Cooper, Spring Lake Park, Wayzata
- 2024 Section Champion: Wayzata – 657 pts
- 2024 Section Runner-up: Maple Grove – 286 pts
Notable Graduates:
- Gray Cisco (Wayzata) – 50 Free (1st Sections/8th State), 100 Free (1st Sections/4th State)
- Leo Guillen-Kenigsberg (Wayzata) – 50 Free (4th Sections)
- Gabe Wernimont (Wayzata) – Diving (3rd Sections)
- Will Francis (Armstrong-Cooper) – Diving (1st Sections)
- Rowan Tierney (Armstrong-Cooper) – 50 Free (8th Sections)
- Thomas Botkin (Maple Grove) – 50 Free (6th Sections), 100 Free (3rd Sections)
- Isaiah Frei (Spring Lake Park) – 100 Fly (6th Sections), 100 Back (8th Sections)
Team Outlook
Wayzata won the section by over 350 points last season and only graduates three top 8 section finishers from their squad, so we will go out on a limb and call Wayzata a strong favorite to repeat as section champions in 2025. The Trojans placed 3-4 swimmers in just about every championship final last season, showing that they have more than enough depth to get it done. Junior Nathan Carr will lead the way, after finishing 2nd at the state meet in the 100 Fly and 3rd in the 100 Back last season. Seniors Max Carter and Arthur Wei picked up some state points for the team in 2024. Carter placed 6th in the 100 Fly and Wei 7th in the 100 Back. Sophomore Jerry Lou placed 7th at the state meet in the 200 IM and followed that up with a 12th place finish in the 100 Fly. Senior Jeffery Lan also contributed at the state meet last year with a 16th place finish in the 100 Free.
Other Notables
Maple Grove will return sophomore Benjamin Pei as their top swimmer. Pei placed 2nd in the 200 Free and 3rd in the 500 Free at the section meet as well as scored a 13th place finish in the 200 at state. Senior Christopher Osborne was the other state qualifier for the Crimson last season, placing 4th in sections in diving. Senior Gabriel Jimenez will look to improve on his 8th place finish in the 100 Free and 7th place finish in the 100 Back from last season at the section meet. Sophomore Daniel Sher was also a top 8 finisher at the section meet for Maple Grove in 2024 with a 7th place finish in the 100 Breast.
Irondale graduated very few points from 2024 and will be looking to knock off maple Grove and claim the runner up spot in 2025. Junior Lucas Megahan was section champion in the 200 Free and section runner up in the 500 Free. At the state meet, he finished 8th in the 200 Free. Senior Henry Botten qualified for the state meet in the 200 IM with a 2nd place finish in the 200 IM and 100 Breast. He would go on to finish 14th in the 200 IM at the state meet. Junior Isaac Botten will be another strong contributor for Irondale this season. The younger Botten placed 3rd in the 200 Free and 4th in the 500 Free at the section meet last year.
Osseo is another team that will look to make a statement this season after graduating very little. Senior Alex Kosel placed 2nd in the 50 Free and was the section champion in the 500 Free last year. He finished the state meet with a 16th place finish in the 500 Free. Junior Mason Krings finished 4th in a very competitive 100 Fly last year, qualifying for the state meet and was the section champion in the 100 Breast. He would go on to place 15th in the 100 Breast at the state meet. Freshman Brandon Kot had an impressive 8th grade season, placing 4th in the 200 IM and 5th in the 100 Back. Junior Brady Landstad will help shore up the relays and look to score some more points of his own in 2025. Last year, Landstad placed 7th in the 50 Free and 8th in the 100 Fly at the section meet.
Robbinsdale Armstrong-Cooper loses a couple key pieces via graduation but has some young talent coming up through the ranks. Sophomore Elliot Suby placed 5th in the 200 IM last season, making him the top returning finisher from the 2024 squad. Freshman Beckett Nelson placed 8th in the 200 Free and 6th in the 500 last year to add some mid-distance freestyle strength. Senior Abie Harris placed 6th in the 100 Free and 9th in the 50 Free and we be a key component to their relays.
Champlin Park will have their own version of a youth movement with freshman Kiptyn Helmrick leading the charge. Helmrick placed 5th in the 100 Free and 4th in the 100 Back in 2024. Senior Nash Woodward is another section finalist returning this year. Woodward placed 8th in the 100 Breast. Sophomore Henry Finke had a couple 9th place finishes at the section meet last year in the 200 IM and 100 Fly. Look for him to work his way into the championship finals this season.
For Spring Lake Park, juniors lead the way. Isaac Wicks placed 6th in the 200 IM and 10th in the 100 Back, while Gabriel Bacig finished 5th in the 100 Fly and 10th in the 50 Free.
Park Center graduated their individual point scorers from 2024 and will be relying on the younger boys to step up and fill their spots as they battle for some top 16 finishes this season.