With the Metro West Conference championship on the line, Waconia delivered when it mattered most, edging Orono 95–91 Thursday night in a dual that came down to the final relay.
The tone was set immediately in the 200 medley relay, where Waconia’s A relay fired the opening shot, winning in 1:41.54 and grabbing the early advantage. Orono stayed close with a strong second-place finish, signaling that neither side would give an inch in a meet carrying postseason stakes.
Waconia added early momentum in the 200 freestyle as Henry Kleve controlled the race from the front, touching first in 1:48.69. Orono answered with solid depth behind Eli Fish and Luke Mitchell, keeping the team score tight and preventing Waconia from building separation.
The back-and-forth continued in the 200 IM, where Sam Swanson delivered a statement swim for Waconia, winning in 2:00.28. Orono countered with Ben Mitchell in second, staying within striking distance as the meet moved into the sprint events.
Sprint speed favored Waconia in the 50 freestyle, as Michael Sower surged to the wall first in 23.05. That burst was answered moments later on the diving boards, where Orono produced one of its biggest swings of the night. Gideon Fish dominated the 1-meter event with a winning score of 298.55, with teammates close behind, swinging key points back to the Spartans and tightening the conference race.
Waconia responded in the butterfly, where Sower doubled up with a win in 54.83, steadying the Wildcats after the diving swing. The meet tightened again in the 100 freestyle as Maitrey Gulati edged the field in 52.00, barely holding off Orono’s Davis Kelly in a race that underscored how thin the margin had become.
Distance racing proved pivotal. Swanson returned to the pool in the 500 freestyle and delivered another critical win in 4:58.66, while Waconia stacked additional points behind him. That result gave the Wildcats a slight cushion as the meet turned toward the relays.
The pressure spiked in the 200 freestyle relay, where Waconia’s A relay held off Orono in a near photo finish, winning 1:33.65 to 1:33.84. That razor-thin relay result loomed large as the dual moved into the final individual events with the conference title still undecided.
Waconia extended its edge in the 100 backstroke behind Kleve, who picked up his second win of the night in 55.36. Orono answered immediately in the breaststroke, as Ben Mitchell captured the 100 breast in 1:02.70, trimming the gap and setting the stage for a winner-take-all finish.
With everything on the line, Waconia left no doubt in the 400 freestyle relay. The Wildcats’ A relay surged from the opening leg and pulled away down the stretch, winning in 3:22.25 and sealing both the dual victory and the Metro West Conference championship.
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