Edina Defends Minnesota State High School Class AA Team Title

2021 MSHSL Boys AA Swim & Dive Championships

  • March 19, 2021
  • Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center, University of Minnesota
  • Brooklyn Center, MN
  • Short Course Yard (SCY)
  • Defending Champs: Edina
  • Results

The Edina boys defended their 2020 MSHSL team title at the 2021 version of the meet, scoring a total of 302 points to win the meet by over 100 points. The Class AA meet includes the state’s biggest high schools.

That marks Edina’s 3rd-straight State Championship and 13th overall: just two behind St. Thomas Academy for the most ever.

Unlike the Minnesota girls, who ended their fall season with Sectional, but no State, Championship meets, the boys Class AA and A seasons will end in Minneapolis, albeit in timed finals.

Final Team Scores – Top 10:

  1. Edina – 302 Points
  2. Chanhassen-Chaska – 201 Points
  3. Eden Prairie – 183 Points
  4. Minnetonka – 168 Points
  5. Maple Grove – 161 Points
  6. Stillwater – 145 Points
  7. St Cloud Tech – 106 Points
  8. St. Michael-Albertville – 98 Points
  9. Wayzata – 95 Points
  10. Lakeville South – 93 Points

Interestingly, Edina managed to pull off the team victory without securing any event wins. Kai Taft picked up a silver for Edina, however, hitting a 1:50.92 to lower his PB from a 1:52.17 which he swam earlier this month.

Stanford commit Hayden Zheng collected the win in that event for St. Louis Park with a 1:47.38 while Ben Binder from Minnetonka was third in a 1:51.00.

Hayden Zheng also won the 100 breaststroke, touching with a 54.08 before Alex Deng came in with a 54.76 for silver and Carson White took bronze with a 56.80.

In the 200 IM, that was a 3rd-straight title for Zheng, and in the 100 breaststroke it was a 4th-straight win. He was a 56.43 back in 2018 as a freshman.

Zheng A senior, Zheng is committed to swim at Stanford next fall.

Edina did finish as runners-up in both the 200 medley and 400 free relaysas well. In the 200 medley, Eden Prairie took the win in 1:31.16 with a team of Luke LogueAlex DengArtem Demidov, and Wilson Ellis. Logue, just a sophomore, led that relay off in 22.99, which was the fastest backstroke split of the field.

In the 400 free relay, it was Chanhassen-Chaska that won with four seniors on their relay: Reese Hodgins (45.72), Josiah Dunker (46.75), Sam Brennan (45.49), and Evan Bock (44.76).

That was part of a sprint-relay sweep for Chanhassen-Chaska: the same quartet combined for a 1:22.54 win in the 200 free relay which set a new Minnesota High School Record. That included matching 20.24s on the last two legs for Brennan and Block. The old record was set by Eden Prairie in 2017.

Three of those swimmers will compete in Division I of the NCAA next season, while Brennan will attend Iowa Central Community College.

St. Cloud Tech swimmer Chris Morris picked up two individual event wins in the 100 butterfly and 200 freestyle.

In the 100 fly, Morris set a Minnesota All-Time record with a 48.11 to take a whole second off his PB of 49.14. He was joined on the podium by Eden Prairie’s Alex Dang (48.28) and Chanhassen-Chaska’s Evan Bock (48.48).

The old State Record of 48.20 was set by Martin Zielinski of Bloomington Jefferson in 1995.

In the 200 freestyle, Morris was a 1:37.82 for the win, better than his 1:39.24 entry time. Maple Groves Jackson Brown was silver with a 1:39.54 and Reese Hodgins took bronze for Chanhassen-Chaska with a 1:40.40.

Another double winner at the meet was Will Whittington who won both the 50 and 100 freestyles for Stillwater. He posted a 20.20 in the 50 and a 44.14 in the prelim, undercutting his entry times of 20.68 and 45.19. Daniel Bates joined him on both podiums, touching in second place with a 20.63 in the 50 and a 45.06 in the 100.

Chanhassen-Chaska’s Evan Bock took bronze in the 50 free with a 20.81 while teammate Reese Hodgins was third in the 100 with a 46.03.

In the 100 backstroke, Luke Logue took gold for Eden Praire with a 49.59 to shave nearly two seconds off his entry time of 52.31. Patrick Horton and Sven Becker also dipped under the 50-second mark with a 49.70 and 49.92 for silver and bronze, respectively.

Maple Grove’s Jackson Brown was the 500 freestyle victor as he hit a 4:28.81. Evan Kindseth took silver for Rosemont with a 4:30.80 and Grant Wodny was bronze with a 4:33.76.

Tyler Barrett won the sole diving event at the meet, scoring 399.10 points on 1-meter for St. Michael-Albertville.

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Gator
3 years ago

Congratulations!!!!!