Centennial, The Northwest Suburban Conference JV Champions, Four Years Running
For the fourth year in a row, Centennial came out on top of the twelve team Northwest Suburban Conference Junior Varsity Swimming and Diving Championship Meet. The victory did not come easily as the Cougars spent most of the meet chasing the Elks for the top spot. It was not until the 100 Backstroke, when Brennan Nielson, Chase Horstman, Quinlan Wells, Brendan Chretien, and Danny Grieman took the 2nd through 6th place finishes, respectively, that the championship was firmly in Centennial hands.
More important than the win, the Cougars’ success can be measured by the fact that 81% of their individual swims resulted in personal best times. Assistant coach Kevin Setterholm was extremely happy with these results. Setterholm was heard telling an Andover coach at the conclusion of the meet that “I knew that Cenennial was going to perform well today, but I was shocked at how big our time drops were in so many of the races. There really isn’t a better way to end a season than seeing most of your boys cheering with raised fits as they looked at their times posted on the score board after their race.”
First place finishes at the championship meet were posted by Brennan Nielson, Harvey Czapko, Devin Swenson and Eliot Shepard in the 200 Medley Relay; Ethan Stegora in the 100 Butterfly; and Evan Lautenschlager in the 100 Breaststroke.
Along with the first place finishers and five backstrokers, other Centennial ribbon winners were: Harvey Czapko, Even Lautenschlager, Ethan Stegora in the 200 Freestyle; Devin Swenson in the 200 IM; Danny Grieman, and Gavin Manthei in the 50 Freestyle; Blake Thorson, Gavin Manthei in Diving; Devin Swenson and Aidan Anderson in the 100 Butterfly; Eliot Shepard and Benjamin Larkin in the 100 Freestyle; Harvey Czapko in the 500 Freestyle; Eliot Shepard, Ethan Stegora, Benjamin Larkin and Danny Grieman in the 200 Freestyle Relay; and Gavin Manthei, Evan Lautenschlager, Brennan Nielson, Eliot Shepard in the 400 Freestyle Relay.
Team Rankings at the conclusion of the meet were:
- Centennial - 438
- Elk River - 427
- Andover - 319
- Anoka - 233
- Spring Lake Park - 177
- Maple Grove - 138
- Champlin Park - 133
- Blaine - 113
- Coon Rapids - 104
- Osseo - 61
- Park Center Pirates - 32
During the bus ride home from the JV Championships, Head Coach Pete Crawford told the junior varsity team that their performance was outstanding and was a fabulous way to end the season. He also told his junior varsity athletes that the excitement over their multiple successes at this championship meet will help motivate the varsity to perform well at the Section 7AA championship meet that will take place at Northdale Pool on February 22, 23 an 24.
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