Woodbury relied on depth from start to finish to pull away late and win the Boys Laker Invite, finishing with 563.5 points to edge Breck Blake (545) in a competitive, multi-team field. Hopkins finished third, followed by Minneapolis Southwest, Cretin-Derham Hall, and New Prague as the meet unfolded with momentum swings across all strokes and relays.
The meet opened with Woodbury setting the early tone in the 200 Medley Relay, as Grant McElwain, Ethan Lu, Roy Huebscher, and Andrew Qing combined for a winning time of 1:41.26. Breck Blake stayed close immediately, placing second and third with its top two relays, while Cretin-Derham Hall and Hopkins also landed scoring finishes that kept the team race tight from the outset.
Breck Blake responded in the first individual event, the 200 Free, with Teddy Frerichs claiming the win in 1:49.71, narrowly ahead of Woodbury’s Grant McElwain. Minneapolis Southwest’s Jackson Jaglo added a third-place finish, signaling the depth the Lakers would rely on throughout the meet.
The 200 IM brought another team into the spotlight, as Cambell Foster of Cretin-Derham Hall captured the title in 2:02.09, holding off Woodbury’s Ethan Lu and Breck Blake’s Minh Truong. The podium featuring three different teams highlighted how evenly contested the meet remained through the early events.
Woodbury’s sprint strength became evident in the 50 Free, where Finn Novak and Andrew Qing went 1–2 in 22.21 and 22.28, respectively. Minneapolis Southwest’s Ethan Holm finished third to keep the Lakers in the hunt as points continued to spread across the field.
Diving provided a clear standout performance, with Sawyer Bowen of St. Paul Central dominating the 1-meter event and winning decisively with a score of 241.05. New Prague’s Brody Dvorak and Breck Blake’s Cole Reilly followed, giving their teams important non-swimming points in a meet where every score mattered.
The pace picked up again in the 100 Butterfly, as Frerichs earned his second individual win of the meet in 53.37, finishing ahead of Minneapolis Southwest’s Jaglo and Roman Johnson. Woodbury continued to chip away with multiple top-eight finishes, keeping pressure on Breck Blake in the team standings.
Novak doubled back to win the 100 Free in 49.01, completing a sprint sweep for Woodbury. Holm placed second for Minneapolis Southwest, while Woodbury’s Colton Rosinski added a third-place finish, a key swing that helped Woodbury gain separation in the team race.
One of the tightest races of the meet came in the 500 Free, where eighth-grader Jackson Wright of Breck Blake edged Woodbury’s Alex McElwain by just over a tenth of a second, 5:05.26 to 5:05.39. St. Paul Central’s Henry Ames placed third, keeping the distance event from becoming a two-team exchange of points.
Woodbury widened its advantage in the 200 Free Relay, as Qing, Lu, McElwain, and Novak touched first in 1:31.25. Breck Blake and Minneapolis Southwest followed, but Woodbury’s depth across multiple relay entries began to stretch the margin heading into the final individual events.
Grant McElwain continued his strong meet in the 100 Backstroke, winning in 53.94, with Rosinski again finishing second to give Woodbury another 1–2 result. Breck Blake’s Bennett O’Halloran placed third to limit the damage, but Woodbury’s consistency was starting to tell.
The 100 Breaststroke followed a similar script, as Qing captured the win in 1:00.13, just ahead of Lu. Foster placed third for Cretin-Derham Hall, capping a strong IM–breast double and keeping the Raiders competitive in the overall standings.
The meet closed with the 400 Free Relay, where Woodbury removed any remaining doubt. The quartet of Alex McElwain, Novak, Rosinski, and Grant McElwain won convincingly in 3:21.18, ahead of Breck Blake and Minneapolis Southwest. With multiple relay teams scoring, Woodbury sealed the championship and capped a meet defined by depth and balance rather than reliance on a single star.
Final Team Standings
- Woodbury – 563.5
- Breck Blake – 545
- Hopkins – 278
- Minneapolis Southwest – 237
- Cretin-Derham Hall – 219
- New Prague – 186
- St. Paul Central – 161.5
- St. Paul Highland Park – 92
- Fridley – 15
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