The Section 7AA Swimming and Diving Championship Meet was held on March 13, 2021 with Centennial placing 4th overall with 266.5 points. Placing ahead of Centennial in the rankings were Duluth with 464 points, Coon Rapids with 406 points and Anoka with 268.5 points. Finishing off the list were Forest Lake with 209 points, Andover with 184 points, Blaine with 141 points, and Cambridge Isanti with 114 points. Hunter Belting’s first place finish in the 50 Freestyle, Riley McNamara’s third place finish in One Meter Diving, Aiden Gillen’s second place...

The final meet for Centennial's Junior Varsity Team was against Blaine and Coon Rapids on March 6, 2021. The Cougars restrained their two opponents during the meet by capturing eight first place finishes and mulitple second and third place finishes. The team, as a whole, dropped a total of seventy-two seconds off of their seed times and eighty-one percent of the team's races resulted in personal best times. Head Coach Pete Crawford believed that it was a fantastic way for Centennial's junior varsity swimmers to finish the 2020-2021 season. First...

The March 2, 2021 meet against Blaine fell during the middle of Cetnennial's Spring Break, leaving the Cougar's short seven athletes as their families left town for vacations. Despite being undermanned, the Cougars pulled off 102.5 to 78.5 vicotry over the Bengals. This triumph brings Centennial's dual meet season to an end with a record of 5 wins and 5 losses. During the meet, two Cougar relay teams posted times fast enough to crack into Centennial's Top 10 lists. The 200 Freestyle relay team of Aidan Gillen, Connor Herbrechtsmeyer, Liam...

Elk River swam to victory over Centennial with a score of 111 to 93 on February 25, 2021. During the meet, the Elks set Centennial pool records in the 200 Medley Relay, 1 Meter Diving and 100 Butterfly. Despite Elk River’s success, Centennial turned out many fantastic performances and 53 best times during the meet. Aiden Gillen’s 50 Freestyle time of :22.91 advanced him to the 4th spot on the team’s Top Times List, and his 500 Freestyle time of 5:27.44 placed him 9th on the list. Hunter Belting’s 100...

Centennial faced Anoka at home on February 23, 2021. At the start of the meet the Cougars knew that Anoka would be a formable opponent, but this did not dissuade the Cougars from pursuing their competition in every event. Centennial’s great effort throughout the meet helped Anoka turn in some fantastic performances which led the Tornadoes to a 101 to 83 victory over the Cougars. Centennial finished the meet with 45 best times and first place finishes in the 200 Freestyle Relay made up of Aidan Gillen, Josh Washburn, Liam...

Centennial faced an extremely strong Coon Rapids/Totino Grace Swimming Team on February 18, 2021. The Cougars’ loss to the Cardinals brought their season record to 4 wins and 3 losses. The meet was not a disappointment for Centennial though as Senior Captain Hunter Belting took first place in the 50 Freestyle with a time of :22.49, Senior Aiden Gillen won the 100 Backstroke with a time of 1:01.14 and the team as a whole posted 68 personal best times. One of the most surprising and exciting performances of the meet...

Osseo presented a very small varsity swimming team to Centennial on February 11, 2021. To energize the Centennial swimmers to turn in great performance at the meet, Coach Pete awarded the Cougars one Oreo cookie for each personal best time turned in during the evening. The strategy worked, because the coach gave out two full packages of cookies as every member on the team turned multiple season best times. Yes, there were 65 best time performances! First place finishes for the Cougars are as follows: 200 Medley Relay - George...

Andover’s Naoh Rabb set pool records at Centennial in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke events on February 4, 2021, but that would be the Huskies’ only highlight during the meet. The Cougars controlled Andover during the rest of the meet by taking 8 first place finishes and 7 second places finishes out of the 12 events and by changing its season record to 3 wins and 2 losses. First place finishes were captured by: Aidan Gillen (200 Freestyle & 100 Freestyle); Liam Gulaid (200 IM & 500 Freestyle); Hunter...

Centennial faced the very powerful Maple Grove swimming team at home on January 28, 2021. During the meet, the Crimson solidified their victory over the Cougars by setting pool records in the 50 freestyle, 100 butterfly and 400 freestyle relay events. Centennial was not completely overwhelmed though by the 2020 Northwest Suburban Conference Champions as sophomore George Atkinson placed first in the 100 backstroke, sophomore Max Scheurer placed first in the 100 backstroke and senior Riley McNamara remained undefeated in the conference in 1 meter diving. Besides these first place...

Park Center’s small swimming team allowed Centennial athletes to swim many events that they were unaccustomed to swimming at a meet. Despite the weak line-up Coach Pete intentionally used against the Pirates, the cougars placed first in all twelve events. The Cougars also took the second and third spots in ten of the twelve events. One of the highlights of the meet was senior swimmer, Ryan Shafer, coming out of a four-year retirement to dive in the meet, along with fellow freshman swimmer, Tyler Celotta, who debuted as a diver...