
Section Finals / 2.21.20 Some of us wonder if Saints is a more appropriate name for this triumphant triumvirate that has chosen year three to thrust itself on the Minnesota swimming scene. So it is appropriate that we start the look back at the 2020 Section Finals with a Biblical reference – to the number the Bible regards as perfection. Seven. On Wednesday, the team rampaged through qualifying and set themselves up for a special Friday celebration. Coach Hebzynski’s wildest dreams for Husky heroics surely centered on that perfect number, and the perfect number punched their tickets to State.
Seven State Swimming Sensations. Seven Events. Six Swimmers and Divers. James. Liam. Andy. Kendal. Joe. Nathan. Seven qualifiers was the 2nd most among the 12 competing teams, besting South St Paul’s five and Fridley’s three. The rest of the Huskies swimmers continued to post blistering times on Friday as they had done on Wednesday. Kinsman knew he entered the Backstroke final just one spot from qualifying, and a personal best kept him in the 4th position. Kendal started strong in the Breaststroke, and when at 75 yards he was several seconds out of 3rd, seemed to nobly turn his attention to the relay that would immediately follow. Kinsman won the consolation final of the Butterfly, and Sam Benson did the same in the 200 Free. Dominic Adkins, Omodt, Alex Bjork, and Benson threw down strong times in the 200 Relay to claim 6th place overall. And additional points piled up by Grant Ravndal (200 and 500), Julius Thukral (200), Bjork (IM and Breast), Omodt (50 and 100), Groebner (50), Noah Herlofsky (Fly), Ethan Bettencourt (Fly), Kendal (100), Benson (500), Gabe Shenoy (Back), and Robert Bushee (Back) scored the Huskies a 3rd place finish in total team points. Diving preliminaries will begin at noon on Thursday at the Jean K Freeman Aquatic Center, 1910 University Ave., with swimming prelims Friday at noon. Finals for both swimming and diving begin Saturday at noon. Section Prelims / 2.19.20 The St. Anthony swim team had a wildly successful night in the Section 4A preliminary heats at St. Catherine’s on Wednesday night. 14 swimmers advanced to a final on Friday, and all 17 Huskies’ competitors swam a race better than their seed times. An astonishing 31 of the 32 individual swims the team completed on the night were faster than their previous best in that event. St Anthony advanced 25 of its 35 entries to Friday night, with the 25 being the 2nd most of the 12 schools competing. Swimming in the Championship Finals on Friday, with a chance to advance to the State Meet by finishing in the top three are: Swimming Friday in the Consolation Finals (places 9-16 from Wednesday) will be: JV City Championships / 2.1.20 The Junior Varsity swimmers of the St. Anthony Swim Team closed their season in strong fashion on Saturday, securing a strong 2nd place finish at the JV Championships held at Southwest High School. The 11 swimmers racked up 209 points, easily outdistancing Fridley and Southwest, and trailing only Breck/Blake. Sophomore Aidan Hillesheim swam season-bests in both his events, finishing 4th in the Backstroke in 1:21.01, and 5th in the 100 Free in 1:09.27. Senior Quinn Benda scored 2 5th place finishes in his individual races. He swam 28.46 in the 50, and 1:30.41 in the Breaststroke. Both Hillesheim and Benda knocked nearly 5 seconds off their season bests in their 2 races combined. Freshman Seth Donaldson achieved his season-long quest to swim the 500 in under 7 minutes, finishing 4th in 6:59.35. He also took 7th in the Backstroke in 1:27.42. Sophomore Lucas Lundgren finished 4th in the Butterfly and 8th in the 50, setting a season best in the 50 at 30.71 seconds. Freshman Elijah Avent was 6th in the Backstroke and Sophomore Devon Selmon was 6th in the Breaststroke and 9th in the 100 Free. Selmon knocked more than 6 seconds combined off his season best times. Freshman Luca Raimondi also eclipsed 6 seconds of savings, grabbing 6th in the 100 Free, and 7th in the 50. 7th grader Oliver Svoboda finished 7th in the Butterfly and 9th in the 50 Free. Fellow 7th grader Tenzin Tharchin took a second and a half of his Breaststroke time to finish 7th. Freshman Emmitt Whinnery did likewise in the 100 Free and finished 11th. 8th grader Charlie Trombley anchored the 400 Free relay team that finished 4th (along with Donaldson, Avent, and Raimondi). Hillesheim, Selmon, Svoboda and Donaldson took 5th in the Medley Relay, and Hillesheim, Svoboda, Raimondi and Benda claimed 3rd in the 200 Relay. Columbia Heights vs. Huskies / 1.21.20 It took a teammate to do it, but James McCarthy was finally beaten in an individual dual meet event. Liam Neary nicked him in the Back, winning in a blistering 59.76. Liam also claimed the 50 Free for the 4th time in 7 duals on the season. McCarthy did claim his other race, the Fly, in 59.75. Kendal Neary won the 100 Free in 55.15 and the Breaststroke in 1:09.31. Joe Kinsman won the IM in 2:32.11. Andy Groebner won the diving competition with a score of 173. Coach Molly Hebzynski went for a 1-2 sweep in the medley relay by splitting up her top swimmers. The Huskies delivered, with Liam Neary, McCarthy, Groebner, and Dominic Adkins winning the race in 1:56.75. Right on their heels were Kendal Neary, Kinsman, Noah Herlofsky, and Alex Bjork. The Huskies also won the 400 Free Relay in 3:43.10, swum by McCarthy, Nathan Omodt and the Nearys. The parade of top 3 finishers was long. Omodt was 2nd in both the 100 and 200 Free, and Ethan Bettencourt finished 3rd in the IM. Groebner was 3rd in the 50, and Kinsman 2nd in the Fly. Grant Ravndal was 3rd in the 500, and Bjork took 3rd in the Breaststroke. The only 3 races not won by the Huskies (200 Free, 500 Free, 200 Relay) were won by Columbia Heights’ Zach Severson. Swimmer Points (R+I=T) L. Neary 16 + 12 = 28 McCarthy 16 + 10 = 26 K. Neary 12 + 12 = 24 Groebner 12 + 9 = 21 Omodt 12 + 8 = 20 Kinsman 6 + 10 = 16 Adkins 14 + 2 = 16 Herlofsky 8 + 2 = 10 Bjork 4 + 4 = 8 Benson 4 + 4 = 8 Ravndal 2 + 5 = 7 Julius Thukral 2 + 3 = 5 Bettencourt 0 + 3 = 3 Sam Heath 2 + 0 = 2 Quinn Benda 2 + 0 = 2 True Team Sections / 1.18.20 Competing in the Class A, Section 4 True Team Section Championships for the first time, the St Anthony/DeLaSalle/St Agnes swim team splashed their way to a strong 2nd place finish at St. Thomas Academy on Saturday. Facing a host team that has won 14 of the last 21 state championships, the Huskies strung together numerous strong swims to comfortably outdistance Fridley for 2nd place honors. James McCarthy claimed the only gold medal of the day for the Huskies, as he held off a late charge from Saint Thomas’ Ian Rutgers to win the 500 Free in 5:15.61. McCarthy also went head to head against club teammate and all-around wunderkind Andrew Karpenko of Minnehaha Academy in the 200 IM. Karpenko won the race, but McCarthy finished 2nd. Liam Neary won a pair of silver medals with strong swims in the sprints. He swam 23.46 in the 50 and 51.90 in the 100, each time claiming the only spot in the top five by anyone other than a St Thomas swimmer. In the morning’s diving competition held at Fridley, Andy Groebner also scored a strong 2nd place finish, amassing 291.60 points, trailing only Fridley’s Tyler Herder. Toward the end of the meet, with 2nd place in the team standings no longer in doubt, the Backstroke final featuring 4 Cadet swimmers and Husky Joe Kinsman found the entire Huskies and Tigers (Fridley) teams clustering in Kinsman’s lane to cheer him on. He came through with a gutsy 2nd place finish in 1:02.25. In the final individual race, Kendal Neary finished 4th in 1:09.61 in the 100 Breast. The Huskies also found good success in the relays. McCarthy, Kinsman and the Nearys yet again pierced a Saint Thomas top 5, finishing 3rd in 1:49.37. Nearly the same group, with Julius Thukral replacing Kinsman, took 3rd in the 400 Freestyle relay. Other top 10 individual finishes came from Kinsman (6th in 100 Fly), Sam Benson (6th in 200 Free and 8th in 500 Free), Robert Bushee (6th in 100 Back), Kendal Neary (7th in IM), Thukral (7th in 200 Free and 8th in 100 Free), Noah Herlofsky (7th in 100 Fly), Nathan Omodt (7th in 500 Free), Alex Bjork (8th in IM and 10th in 100 Breast), Groebner (8th in 50 Free), Ethan Bettencourt (8th in 100 Fly), Gabe Shenoy (8th in 100 Back), Grant Ravndal (9th in 200 Free), Dominic Adkins (9th in 100 Free and 10th in 50 Free), Brayden Evenson (9th in 100 Back), Sam Heath (10th in 100 Free), and Lucas Lundgren (10th in 100 Fly) Swimmer Points (R+I=T) McCarthy 56 + 31 = 87 L. Neary 56 + 30 = 86 K. Neary 56 + 23 = 79 Kinsman 50 + 26 = 76 Thukral 48 + 19 = 67 Benson 42 + 20 = 62 Adkins 42 + 15 = 57 Herlofsky 40 + 16 = 56 Bjork 40 + 16 = 56 Evenson 48 + 8 = 56 Bettencourt 36 + 15 = 51 Ravndal 42 + 8 = 50 Bushee 34 + 11 = 45 Groebner 20 + 24 = 44 Heath 32 + 12 = 44 Oliver Svoboda 32 + 5 = 37 Seth Donaldson 32 + 5 = 37 Aiden Hillesheim 30 + 5 = 35 Omodt 24 + 10 = 34 Quinn Benda 34 + 0 = 34 Elijah Avent 30 + 0 = 30 Devon Selmon 24 + 0 = 24 Shenoy 14 + 9 = 23 Lundgren 14 + 7 = 21 Charlie Trombley 10 + 0 = 10 Kolya Wilke 10 + 0 = 10 TMT vs. Huskies / 1.16.20 The St Anthony/DeLaSalle/St Agnes swim team evened their 2019-20 dual meet record at 3-3 with a tight 87-82 win against Minneapolis TMT (Washburn, South, and Roosevelt high schools) on Thursday at St Anthony Village High School. James McCarthy again won his 2 individual events, winning the Individual Medley in 2:08.01, as well as the Breaststroke in 1:06.83. The other Huskies individual event winner was Liam Neary in the Backstroke (1:02.85). The Huskies also won the medley relay. Liam Neary swam the backstroke leg, Kendal Neary the breaststroke, McCarthy the butterfly, and Nathan Omodt the freestyle, in a time of 1:48.19. Other top finishers were Liam Neary (2nd in the IM), Andy Groebner (2nd in the 50), Ethan Bettencourt (2nd in the Fly), Kendal Neary (2nd in the 100 Free, 3rd in the Breastsroke), Omodt (3rd in the 50), Sam Benson (3rd in the Fly), and Joe Kinsman (3rd in the 500). TMT, so named because of the mascots of the three schools: Teddies, Millers, Tigers, had 3 swimmers compete in all their races in an exhibition status because of Minneapolis school rules. Swimmer Points (R+I=T) McCarthy 12 + 12 = 24 L. Neary 12 + 10 = 22 K. Neary 12 + 7 = 19 Omodt 12 + 5 = 17 Alex Bjork 6 + 4 = 10 Groebner 4 + 4 = 8 Bettencourt 4 + 4 = 8 Dominic Adkins 6 + 2 = 8 Benson 2 + 5 = 7 Noah Herlofsky 6 + 1 = 7 Kinsman 2 + 4 = 6 Julius Thukral 2 + 3 = 5 Grant Ravndal 2 + 3 = 5 Brayden Evenson 2 + 0 = 2 Sam Heath 2 + 0 = 2 Oliver Svoboda 2 + 0 = 2 Seth Donaldson 0 + 1 = 1 BSM Vs. Huskies / 1.14.20 James McCarthy dominated the 500 Free, winning going away in a season-best 5:10.00. He also won the 100 Breast in 1:05.79, and teamed with Kendal Neary, Liam Neary, and Nathan Omodt to win the 400 Relay in 3:41.10. Liam Neary won the 50 Free in 23.67, and Joe Kinsman triumphed in the 100 Back with a time of 1:03.74. That gave the Huskies 5 wins in 11 races. As usual, the opening medley relay provided plenty of drama. The team of McCarthy, Liam Neary, Omodt, and Kinsman narrowly missed a first place finish, as Omodt’s late charge got his team within 16 hundredths of the winners. Kendal Neary finished 2nd in the 200 Free, and Liam Neary was 2nd in the 100 Free. R+I = T McCarthy 12 + 12 = 24 L Neary 12 + 10 = 22 K Neary 10 + 6 = 16 Kinsman 6 + 8 = 14 Omodt 12 + 2 = 14 Ravndal 2 + 3 = 3 Herlofsky 0 + 2 = 2 Bjork 0 + 2 = 2 Thukral 0 + 2 = 2 Adkins 2 + 0 = 2 Benson 0 + 1 =1
Robbinsdale Cooper / 1.7.2020 The Huskies again won a majority of the events, claiming 7 out of 12. James McCarthy remained unbeaten this season in individual events at dual meets, this time winning the 200 Free in 1:57.65, and the 100 Breast in 1:05.53. Other Huskies individual winners were Liam Neary in the 50 Free (23.50) and 100 Free (52.54), Andy Groebner in the Diving (161.025), and Joe Kinsman in the 100 Back (1:03.27). The visitors opened the meet with a thrilling victory in the medley relay. Even with strong opening swims from Kinsman in the back and Kendal Neary in the breast, the Hawks held a 2 length lead heading into the fly. McCarthy closed the gap considerably before a brilliant exchange to Liam Neary for the free leg catapulted the Huskies to the win in 1:49.26. Other top three finishes came from Kinsman in the 100 Fly, Kendal Neary in the 200 IM and 500 Free, and Nathan Omodt in the 100 Free. Liam Neary, Grant Ravndal, Julius Thukral, and Omodt took 2nd in the 200 Free Relay. In the meet’s final event, the Huskies top group had strong finishing swims from Kinsman, Kendal Neary, and McCarthy that narrowed a 10-second gap to 2 seconds at the close. The team of Ethan Bettencourt, Sam Benson, Thukral, and Ravndal also swam well to claim 3rd in the 400 Relay.
Swimmer Points (R+I=T) McCarthy 12 + 12 = 24 L. Neary 12 + 12 = 24 Kinsman 12 + 9 = 21 K. Neary 12 + 8 = 20 Omodt 8 + 5 = 13 Thukral 6 + 3 = 9 Ravndal 6 + 2 = 8 Groebner 0 + 6 = 6 Bettencourt 2 + 4 = 6 Benson 2 + 1 = 3 Gabe Shenoy 0 + 2 = 2 Alex Bjork 0 + 2 = 2 Dominic Adkins 0 + 1 = 1 Noah Herlofsky 0 + 1 = 1 Bloomington Jefferson Invite / 12.21.19 The team accumulated 290 points, an improvement of over 160 points from the same meet last season. Liam Neary led the way with a 2nd place finish in the 100 Free (51.29), and a 4th place finish in the 50 Free (23.54, missing a bronze finish by .01). He also finished 4th in both his relays, teaming with James McCarthy, Kendal Neary, and Julius Thukral in the medley relay (1:52.12), and McCarthy, Neary, and Nathan Omodt in the 200 free relay (1:40.77). McCarthy finished 2nd in the individual medley (2:06.08, just 1 second from victory), and also finished 5th in the 100 Fly (59.59). Andy Groebner grabbed a 3rd silver for the team, accumulating 309.85 points in the diving event. Other top 10 finishes on the day came from Kendal Neary (6th in the 100 Breast), Grant Ravndal (8th in the 500 Free), Sam Benson (9th in the 500 Free), and Seth Donaldson (10th in the 500 Free). Swimmer Events(finish) Points (R+I=T) L Neary MR(4), 50(4), 100(2), 200R(4) 60 + 32 = 92 McCarthy MR(4), IM(2), Fly(5), 200R(4) 60 + 31 = 91 K Neary MR(4), Fly(11), 200R(4), Breast(6) 60 + 19 = 79 Omodt 100(13), 200R(4), Breast(14), 400R(8) 52 + 7 = 59 Thukral MR(4), 200(14), 100(14), 400R(8) 52 + 6 = 58 Benson MR(10), IM(12), 500(9), 400R(8) 36 + 14 = 50 Ravndal MR(10), 500(8), 400R(8) 36 + 11 = 47 Donaldson 500(10), 200R(10), 400R(10) 28 + 7 = 35 Dominic Adkins MR(10), 50(16), 400R(10) 28 + 1 = 29 Aidan Hillesheim MR(10), 200R(10), Back(16) 28 + 1 = 29 Ethan Bettencourt 200R(10), Breast(16), 400R(10) 28 + 1 = 29 Braden Evenson IM(13), Back(13), 400R(10) 14 + 8 = 22 Groebner Dive(2) 0 + 17 = 17 Luca Raimondi 200R(10) 14 + 0 = 14 Gabe Shenoy IM(14), Back(12) 0 + 8 = 8 Robert Bushee Back(14) 0 + 3 = 3 Huskies Sweep Cambridge-Isanti / 12.19.19 Illness and other absences continued to wreak havoc on the lineup, but the silver lining was the opportunities created for other swimmers to step up. Noah Herlofsky (21), Sam Benson (10), Quinn Benda (8), Ethan Bettencourt (10), Dominic Adkins (8), and Grant Ravndal (10) all notched points in all 4 of their races for the first time this season. James McCarthy won the 100 Free in 53.90 seconds and the 100 Breast, and also led his 2 relays (Medley and 400) to victory. Liam Neary won the 200 Free in 2:04.53, Julius Thukral claimed the 500 in 6:33.45. The winning relay teams were McCarthy/Neary/Herlofsky/Andy Groebner in the medley (1:53.29), and McCarthy/Neary/Herlofsky/Thukral in the 400 (3:59.62). The St. Anthony/DeLaSalle/St. Agnes Swim Team is now 2-1 on the season, and will next swim in the Bloomington Jefferson Invitational on December 21. Swimmer Events(finish) Points (R+I=T) McCarthy MR(1), 100(1), Breast(1), 400R(1) 16 + 12 = 28 L Neary MR(1), 200 (1), Fly(2), 400R(1) 16 + 10 = 26 Thukral 50(2), 500(1), 200R(2), 400R(1) 12 + 10 = 22 Herlofsky MR(1), Fly(3), Back(4), 400R(1) 16 + 5 = 21 Groebner MR(1), 200 (3) 8 + 3 = 11 Bettencourt MR(3), IM(3), 500(3), 400R(3) 4 + 6 = 10 Ravndal IM(4), 100(4), 200R(2), 400R(3) 6 + 4 = 10 Benson MR(3), Fly(5), 200R(2), Breast(3) 6 + 4 = 10 Benda MR(3), 50(4), 200R(3), Breast(4) 4 + 4 = 8 Adkins 200(5), 500(5), 200R(2), 400R(3) 6 + 2 = 8 Brayden Evenson MR(3), Back(3), 400R(3) 4 + 3 = 7 Gabe Shenoy Back(2) 0 + 4 = 4 Aidan Hillesheim 50(5), 200R(3) 2 + 1 = 3 Oliver Svododa 200R(3) 2 + 0 = 2 Quinn Avent 200R(3) 2 + 0 = 2
Fridley / 12.17.19 Despite a valiant effort Tuesday night at Fridley, the Huskies swim team came up a whisker short in their quest for their 2nd straight win, falling by 1 point to the Tigers 93-92. The meet came down to the freestyle relays, where Fridley’s 2 wins by a total of less than 2 seconds (0.1 second in the 200) put them over the top. St. Anthony won 8 out of 11 races overall. Freshman James McCarthy, sophomore Liam Neary, and senior Kendal Neary led the way with 1 relay and 2 individual wins each. McCarthy took the distance freestyle events, swimming the 200 in 1:57.13, and the 500 in 5:13.11. Liam Neary won the 50 free in 23.21 and the 100 breast in 1:13.53. Kendal Neary was victorious in the 200 IM (2:23.46) and 100 free (56.25). The three teamed with junior Noah Herlofsky to win the medley relay in a time of 1:52.89. The Huskies were missing 4 varsity swimmers due to illness, and still vastly bettered last year’s 119-67 loss to Fridley. The Huskies’ final victory came from freshman Alex Bjork in the 100 back, clocking in at 1:14.43. Scoring summary R + I = Total McCarthy 12 + 12 = 24 K Neary 12 + 12 = 24 L Neary 12 + 12 = 24 Herlofsky 10 + 4 = 14 Bjork 4 + 9 = 13 Nathan Omodt 8 + 4 = 12 Grant Ravndal 6 + 4 = 10 Andy Groebner 4 + 5 = 9 Sam Benson 0 + 5 = 5 Dominic Adkins 2 + 3 = 5 Ethan Bettencourt 2 + 2 = 4 Brayden Evenson 0 + 1 = 1 Aiden Hillesheim 0 + 1 = 1 Season Starts off Strong vs. Richfield / 12.12.19 JV City Championship 2/19/2019 The St. Anthony/St. Agnes/DeLaSalle Huskies Junior Varsity swim team finished the year with a bang, claiming 2nd place at the JV Championships held at Southwest High School on Saturday, February 9. Top 10 finishes and season-best times came in droves. Sophomore diver Andy Groebner got the Huskies off to a fast start in the morning competition with a strong 141 point total. His 4th place finish put the team in 3rd to start. In the first swim event, the relay team of eighth-graders Robert Bushee and Ethan Bettencourt, senior Keegan Helmke, and freshman Aidan Hillesheim finished 4th in 2:18.21 in the 200 medley relay, keeping the team in the 3rd position. Seventh-grader Sam Benson's and eighth-grader Seth Donaldson's top-10 finishes in the 200 free kept St. Anthony in 3rd place. But three more top-ten finishes followed in the 200 IM, as Bushee (5th), freshman Lucas Lundgren (6th), and seventh-grader Gabe Shenoy (7th) piled up another 26 points, and vaulted the Huskies over Southwest into 2nd place. The ultra-competitive 50 free followed, with 32 competitors. Hillesheim (8th) and Helmke (9th) ably carried the Husky flag in the sprint, finishing just one-hundredth apart (Hillesheim swam 29.34, Helmke 29.35), but the lead over the Lakers shrunk to 3rd. The first event after the break was the 100 fly, where Lundgren (5th) and Benson (6th) scored well. Helmke's strong race was unfortunately negated by a false start; otherwise his 1:26.21 would have been good for 4th. In the 100 free, eighth-grader Sam Heath took 10th in a deep field of 25 to secure another 3 points, but Southwest snuck back into a tie with St. Anthony. Donaldson then followed with the day's only top 3 finish, grabbing 12 points in the grueling 500 free, but Southwest's 2nd place finish put them up 1. In the meet's 2nd relay, the 200 free, St. Anthony took 5th, as Bettencourt, Helmke, Benson, and Donaldson swam 2:07.87. Southwest now led by 5. Bushee and Shenoy corrected that regrettable circumstance in the 100 back with 4th (1:19.38) and 6th (1:28.53) place finishes. That gave the Huskies a 15 point bulge. The 100 breaststroke was noteworthy for being the only race of the day not won by event champion Breck/Blake. But the battle for 2nd tightened again, as Bettencourt's 7th place finish (1:27.10), Heath's 9th (1:32.96) and freshman Devon Selmon's 12th (1:54.38) gave the Huskies a 6-point margin heading into the final race of the day. There, in the 400 free relay, Benson, Donaldson, Hillesheim and Heath secured the final 22 points to hold off the Lakers' late charge. The final top 5 were Black/Breck 408, St. Anthony 189, Southwest 185, TMT 162, and Fridley 142. Dividing relay points between the 4 swimmers in each race, the Husky point leaders were: Donaldson 27 Bushee 27 Benson 25 Lundgren 19 Bettencourt 18.5 Hillesheim 16.5 Shenoy 16 Helmke 15.5 Heath 12.5 Groebner 11 Notice that all 10 of these swimmer's individual points were more than the margin of victory over Southwest. One more note on how close the race for 2nd in the team competition was: in that 50 free where Hilleshim and Helmke finished in a virtual dead heat, a Southwest swimmer was just 13 hundredths behind. Had the Laker swimmer gone 15 hundredths faster, his team would have been 2nd. Congrats to our JV Swimmers for an excellent season! The St. Anthony/St. Agnes/DeLaSalle Varsity swim team will compete in the Section meet at Edina on Thursday, February 21, and Saturday, February 23. True Team Sections: Where everyone Counts! 1/20/2019 Yesterday the Huskies competed in their first True Team Sections meet held at Edina; True Team Sections is a unique and exciting meet where every single swim counts towards the final score! The Huskies racked up a total of 493 points. Kicking off the meet included 11th place finish in the 200 Medley Relay of Joe Kinsman, Kendal Neary, Liam Neary, and Nathan Omodt with a time of 1:52.63. Following the Medley Relay, Julius Thukral and James Adam cruised into the 200 Freestyle, earning new best times and 15 points for the team. Individual Medley swimmers K. Neary and Alex Bjork were able to capture 26 points with their 18th and 24th place finishes. 50 Freestlyers, Aidan Hillesheim (31.13), Keegan Helmke (33.74), Lucas Lundgren (34.46), and Devon Selmon (35.72) gained 18 points for the team in the 50 Freestyle. Alongside his teammates, L. Neary, closed in a Top 16 finish with a 24.80 along with 15th place overall finish in the 100 Freestyle, narrowing in on a new best time of 54.41. Following the break, 100 Butterfliers Ben Maruggi (1:08.17) and Noah Herlofsky (1:13.35) shaved off a combined total of 8 seconds in their swims, garnering the team 23 points. Swimmers Sam Benson (1:11.61), Sam Heath (1:11.76), and Seth Donaldson (1:15.11) finished 1, 2, 3 in their heat of the 100 Freestyle, helping the team with their overall score by adding 21 points. Thukral, Herlofsky, and Grant Ravndal gained 20 points for the team through swim the 500 Freestyle while shaving off a combined total of 29 seconds. The 200 Freestyle Relays of Omodt, Thukral, Kinsman, Bjork and Devon Selmon, Ethan Bettencourt, Sam Heath, and Lucas Lundgren finished with speedy times of 1:51.02 and 2:16.08. After the 200 Freestyle Relays, 100 Backstroker Joe Kinsman earned 10th place with a 1:01.57 alongside Joe, teammates Brayden Evenson, Adams, and Ravndal helped earn 38 points with their backstroke swims. A 12th place finish in the 100 breaststroke came from K. Neary (1:11.03) along with a 21st place finish from Omodt (1:18.86), 24th Bjork (1:20.88) and 26th Bettencourt (1:26.36) Finishing the day were the 400 Freestyle relay teams of: Omodt, Kinsman, K. Neary, L. Neary (3:51.36) and Herlofsky, Adams, Bjork, Thukral (4:21.93) and Evenson, Benson, Donaldson, and Ravndal (4:58.79) helping the team adding 94 points to finish the day with a total of 493 points. The Huskies will compete in their last away dual meet, this Tuesday, 6:00 PM, at Spring Lake Park. Huskies Vs. Tigers Showdown 1/19/2019 The Huskies swim team battled hard against Fridley Thursday evening, but came up short in a dual meet against their conference rivals. The visiting Huskies did finish strong, winning the final race of the meet, as Liam and Kendal Neary, Spencer Bury, and Nathan Omodt claimed the 400 yard freestyle relay. Bury also provided the dramatic moment of the meet when he came from 2 body lengths down in the 200 yard freestyle only to be just touched out at the wall by Fridley's Logan Wuertz. Bury also finished 3rd in the 100 fly, and 2nd in the 200 free relay. Julius Thukral notched his first individual Top-3 of the season with a 3rd place finish in the 200 free. Other notable finishes were Liam Neary in the 200 IM (3rd) and 100 free (2nd), Kendal Neary in the 100 breast (2nd) and 100 free (3rd), Omodt in the 500 free (3rd), and Joe Kinsman in the 100 back (2nd). On Saturday the Huskies compete in True Team sections in Edina at 1 PM. Loudest Team on the Deck! 1/16/19 The Huskies swim team fell to Benilde-St Margaret's 95-69 on Tuesday evening at the St. Anthony pool, but represented their team spirit exceptionally well. All swimmers were on deck and cheering for their teammates, making the night a success in itself. Liam Neary set the pace for the Huskies, finishing 2nd in all 4 of his swims to earn 16 total points. He swam the 50 free and the 100 fly back-to-back, as well as the medley relay to start the meet and the 400 free relay to close it. 4 different swimmers contributed 14 points. Joe Kinsman notched three 2nd's and a 4th, with his 2nd-place finishes coming in the medley relay, the 100 back, and the 200 free relay. Spencer Bury was on distance duty, finishing 3rd in the 200 free and 500 free, while also participating in both 2nd place freestyle relay finishes. Nathan Omodt also excelled, swimming to 2nd in both free relays, as 3rd in both freestyle sprints (50 and 100). Finally, Kendal Neary was 3rd in both the 200 IM and the 100 breast, as well as 2nd in both 200 yard relays. The Huskies swim twice more this week, Thursday at Fridley and Saturday at Edina for True Team Sections. Kicking Off the New Year 1/5/19 The St. Anthony swim team was back in the water to kick off 2019 with a meet Thursday in Plymouth against Robbinsdale Armstrong High School. Spencer Bury led the Huskies with a victory, a 2nd and two 3rd place finishes in his 4 races. He claimed the 100-yard backstroke in a time of 1:05.35, and finished 2nd in the medley relay, teaming with Joe Kinsman, Nathan Omodt, and Andy Groebner. The 3rd place finishes came in the 100 yard butterfly and 200 free relay, where Bury swam with Groebner, Ben Maruggi, and Julius Thukral. The Huskies also garnered 2nd place finishes in the 500 yard freestyle (Kinsman, in 6:04.90) and 400 yard free relay, swum by Kinsman, Groebner, Thukral, and Omodt. Individual 3rd place finishes came from Kinsman in the 200 IM (giving him three 2nd and a 3rd place finish on the day), Groebner in the 50 free, and Omodt in both the 100 free and 100 breast (putting Groebner's and Omodt's tallies at two 2nd and two 3rd place finishes each). The Huskies return to the water on Tuesday, January 15 for a home meet against Benilde St. Margaret's, starting at 5:30 PM. Huskies vs. Spartans Throw Down
Spencer Bury scored well for the home team, notching 2nd place finishes in both the 200 Free and 100 Fly. Kendal Neary and Joe Kinsman led the way for the Huskies with wins in the 100 Breast and 100 Back, respectively. Neary swam a 1:14.51 in the 100 Breast, and Kinsman posted a time of 1:09.59 in the 100 Back. Neary also finished 2nd in the 200 IM in 2:29.25, and Kinsman finished 2nd in the 500 Free in 5:59.74. All three combined with Liam Neary for a 2nd place finish in the 200 Medley Relay. Other top 3 finishes came from Liam Neary (50 Free and 100 Free), Robert Bushee (100 Back), and Nathan Omodt (100 Breaststroke). The Huskies are back in action Saturday, visiting Bloomington Jefferson for a 1:00 pm clash. |