Individuals from Austin Packers boys swimming and diving team qualify for State Class A Meet

The Austin Packers boys swimming and diving team was in action at the Section 1A Meet Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at the Blanchard Aquatic Center in Lakeville, and in the team competition, the Packers finished fourth out of eight teams with 235 points.  Northfield took the team title with 491 points, with Mankato East a distant second with 349 points, followed by Winona in third with 252 points.

Qualifying for the State Class A Individual Meet for Austin by finishing in the top three or surpassing the State Standard Time was the 200 Medley Relay team of Brent Dahl, Hunter Peters, Lucas Myers and Zach Evenson, as they took third with a time of 1:41.63, and also qualifying for state was the 400 Free Relay team of Evenson, Myers, Peters and Dahl, as they also took third with a final time of 3:23.66.  Zach Evenson also qualified for Austin in the 100 Freestyle, where he took second with a time of 49.38 seconds, and he also will be going to state in the 50 Freestyle, where he also took second with a time of 22.52.  Brent Dahl also qualified in two different events for the Packers, as the broke the Austin High School 500 Freestyle record previously held by Logan Kelly from 2021 with a time of 4:47.48, which put him in first place by nearly :10 over second-place finisher Cordel Ruppert of Winona.  Dahl also took home the title in the 200 Individual Medley with a time of 1:56.52, just under :07 ahead of second-place Peyton Truman of Northfield.

Other medalitsts for Austin from the section meet included Hunter Peters, who took 8th in the 200 Freestyle with a time of 1:56.94, and he was also fourth in the 100 Breaststroke with a time 1:04.88.  Lucas Myers also medaled in two events, as he was 7th in the 50 Freestyle with a time of 23.49 seconds, and he was also 7th in the 100 Butterfly with a time of 57.47, and Riley Ferguson and Gage Rasmussen both medaled for the Packers in 1-Meter Diving.  Austin’s 200 Freestyle Relay team of Noah Holt, Francesco Lorenzoni, Julian Koch and Simon Pischke also medaled for Austin, as they took 8th with a time of 1:48.29.

The State Class A Boys Swimming and Diving Meet will be held at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center at the University of Minnesota Thursday, February 29th through Saturday, March 2nd.