The Maroon & Gold Invite in Minneapolis, Minnesota, has become one of the best cross-state high school invites in the nation as of late, and the 2015 boys edition proved to be one of its most exciting installments.
Last year’s Maroon & Gold champs in the top-ranked “Gold” division (the meet features 4 different divisions, each with their own separate meet during the day) were Creighton Prep, also the defending Nebraska state champions. But this year, they ran up against Wisconsin’s Madison Memorial, the defending state champs in their own stomping grounds. On top of that, defending Minnesota state champs Wayzata were involved, as were the boys of Minnetonka, who look like the favorites to win that title this year.
In an outstanding battle, Creighton Prep nipped Madison Memorial by just half a point, coming from behind with a win in the final relay to defend their Maroon & Gold crown.
Creighton easily had the best top-level talent of the meet, winning all three relays and three individual races. But Memorial stuck around based on depth to nearly steal the title away.
Creighton rattled off its three individual wins back-to-back-to-back. First, senior Clark Carter took the “W” on 1-meter diving, scoring 278.90 points to win by nearly 40. Then the swimmers took over, with brothers Ryan and Sean Tate dominating consecutive races.
Ryan Tate claimed the 100 fly, going 50.06 for a new meet record. He beat out John Om of another out-of-state team: New Jersey’s Bergen Catholic.
Then his brother Sean, also a senior, rolled to a 100 free win. The Duke commit went 45.76 to smash a meet record previously held by former University of Minnesota All-American Curt Carlson.
Also under that meet record was East Ridge (MN)’s James Tidd, a future Minnesota Gopher. Tidd was 45.96. Sean Tate used that 100 free to avenge an earlier loss to Tidd in the 50 free. In that race, Tidd went 20.62 to break the meet record Sean Tate set last year. Tate was 20.96.
Madison Memorial got its biggest points from junior Justin Temprano, a double-individual winner. Temprano took the 200 IM with ease in 1:53.63, and actually increased his margin of victory in the 100 back, going 50.87 to win by nearly two and a half seconds.
The other double-individual winner was Minnetonka (MN)’s Sam Schilling, who swept the longer freestyle races. Schilling, a sophomore, was 1:42.27 to take the 200 free and also won the 500 free in 4:39.64. In the latter race, he had to come from behind to beat Anoka (MN) senior Matt Hedman, who finished in 4:39.93.
Also winning individually was Bergen Catholic’s Ralph Cannarozzi, who crushed the 100 breast field in 56.93.
Creighton Prep won all three relays, but had to work hard for its first one. The 200 medley came down to a tenth of a second between Creighton and Madison Memorial, foreshadowing the great team battle to come. Caleb Piti, James Warren, Ryan Tate and Will Tjaden combined to go 1:35.53, while Memorial was 1:35.62. Temprano led off in 23.82 for Memorial, giving his team a lead, but Warren brought Creighton back into contention. Ryan Tate crushed a 22.38 on the fly leg, and though Memorial anchor Alex Peterson-Weber was 21.16, it wasn’t enough to run down Tjaden and Creighton.
The 200 free relay was another battle, with Creighton Prep’s Sean Tate joining Tjaden, Warren and Brandon Abboud to go 1:25.99. Tate was 21.10 leading off that relay, by far the best of the field, and Madison Memorial could only come up with a 1:26.49 for second place.
Memorial jumped back into the points lead over the backstroke and breaststroke events, though, leaving Creighton on the comeback trail in the 400 free relay. Creighton was finally able to pair the Tate brothers, though, and won the relay easily in 3:07.35. Sean Tate was 45.82 leading off, while Ryan went 46.35 on the next leg. Also on the squad were Jake Hedrick and Abboud, who split 46.65.
Madison Memorial fell all the way to 5th, losing ground to Minnesota powers Minnetonka (200/500 winner Schilling was 46.00), Eden Prarie (freshman Joshua Withers split 47.39) and East Ridge (Tidd led off in 45.69, the best of the field). That was enough to give Creighton the overall meet win by just half a point, as the team erased a 9.5-point Memorial lead in the final event.
Third went to Minnesota’s Minnetonka team, with Stillwater nipping Eden Prarie for fourth.
Team Scores
- Creighton Prep (NE) – 1214.5
- Madison Memorial (WI) – 1214
- Minnetonka (MN) – 842
- Stillwater (MN) – 789
- Eden Prarie (MN) – 786.5
You can find results of the Maroon, Bronze and Tiger divisions on the meet website here.
I’d be interested in reading more about the various high school championship meets throughout the Midwest. I’m not so sure I can support a Midwest High School Championship. It is clear, (through no fault of their own per se) these two teams were at very different points in their training, primarily due to state differences and how each prepare to qualify for their individual state meets.
Correct me, but it looks like Nebraska has qualifying times (prelim/finals) that can be met at mid-season, vs Wisconsin has a ‘top’ 24 (specifically 6 sectional champions + the next 18 top times) and I’m sure New Jersey and Minnesota may vary as well. I would think the differences would bring about great… Read more »
Just thought I’d throw this out there: If this had been a dual meet between the two teams, Creighton would have won 107-78.
I hope our Memorial boys get a rematch next year.
This was such a great meet! Both teams were competing at the highest level. This was the first competitive meet Prep has been in quite some time. JMM was fantastic! Thank you for coming to Minneapolis, and thanks to everyone who competed and attended this meet. It easily could have gone either way. Prep swimmers rose up to the challenge! Seniors lead the way: Sean, Ryan, Leo, Jake, Collin, Ben, Carter, Jon, and our diver Clark!. Tradition Does Not Graduate!
My sincere apologies for thinking CRP was rested. As a novice, I assumed such from the time drops on Meet Mobile. However, it looks like the Jays entered season best & had great mid-season swims when compared to their 2014 State Results.
I had a great time watching the meet & I think BOTH teams worked their butts off. Best part: both set of fans cheering when a ‘tie’ was posted on the scoreboard. Proud moment watching the team’s shake hands! Great respect reflected by both team families & athletes.
The experience gained was worth the 1/2 point lost & glad our JMM dual meet & State meet streaks are still intact. From a loss, I believe more… Read more »
Roll TATE TWINS! Nebraska State Championship HERE THEY COME!
A Very Proud Grandpa
Moratorium is a 5 day period set out by the nsaa (nebraska sports athletics association) for no practoces held between certain dates containing christmas so no team practices were held from dec 24th to dec 28th
For the record Creighton Prep was not rested they had just come off a 5 day moratorium and had 4 days to prepare (no practice new years) they simply just weren’t willing to let their streak end and rallied to swim faster, there is more fast swimming to come
Curious, can you tell me what you mean by moratorium?
Moratorium is a 5 day period set out by the nsaa (nebraska school athletics association) for no practices held between certain dates containing christmas so no team practices were held from dec 24th to dec 28th, it is very difficult resuming training from a 5 day no swimming break
This was an exciting meet to watch. Both A and B relays were scored and it was scored out to 32 places, so depth was the difference. There were huge point jumps and lead changes due to the swims of the second and third swimmers in each event. It was a great learning experience for the boys. Every start, turn, and finish matters.
The final relay was as exciting as it gets in the pool, but the competition was between the Memorial and Creighton B relays to determine the team title. They were right next to each other, finishing just 0.23 seconds apart, with Creighton touching first.
I recall the 200 ‘B’ free relays next to one another with Creighton out touching by 0.24. However for 400, Creighton B was seated 10; swimming in Ht 5 of 6. JMM B was in final heat, Lane 8.
Yep. My bad. I remember now. I knew there was a battle there somewhere.
Most exciting meet I’ve watched. CRP were rested as evident in the drops from times submitted & did what they had to do. Fun to watch all the fast swimmers & have our boys gain experience from the meet, travel & pull together. I would argue however that the meet didn’t come down to the ‘A’ relays. Rather, the top two relays scored. JMM & CRP ‘B”s were very close in the 2 & 4 free relays. Could have went either way. Depth? Very proud to have all 3 relay entries for JMM in top 10 in 200 free relay. Shame the ‘C’ were exhibition.