Before the start of the January 25, 2024 meet with Champlin Park, Head Coach Pete Crawford told his coaching staff that it looks like the Cougars should win the meet, but there could be surprises.  Crawford stated that “my past experiences with the Rebels is that they often pull out hidden talent when we swim them or their known talent often swim exceptionally well against us”.  With this meet being Champlin Park’s Senior Night, the Cougar Coaching staff braced itself for the unexpected.

Coach Pete’s warnings proved to be well founded. From its three second win over Centennial’s A Medley relay team to its two point lead over the Cougars after the diving event and its sweep of the top three spots in the 500 freestyle, the Rebels were full of surprises throughout the whole evening. Despite these Rebel successes, the Cougars did pull off a win as Crawford predicted with the final score of the meet being 105 to 81.

First place finishes by Centennial were earned by Caleb Cregan in the 200 Freestyle and 100 Butterfly; Manny Poscher in the 100 Freestyle; Manny Poscher, Talen Greeson-Stormoen, Caleb Cregan, Joseph Murray in the 200 Freestyle Relay; Isaac Nguyen in the 100 Breaststroke; and Caleb Cregan, Manny Poscher, Alex Larkin, Benno Schuhbauer in the 400 Freestyle Relay.

Next Thursday will be the Cougars last conference meet of the season as it duals the Anoka Tornadoes for the third place spot in the Northwest Suburban Conference 2023-24 standings.