Card boys' swimming and diving: Alexandria is Section 5A True Team champion

• Section champs

Contributed The Cardinal boys’ swimming and diving team posed for an impromptu photo after winning the Section 5A True Team meet Saturday. The win advances the Redbirds to the State True Team meet Saturday at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center.

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Kris Aaseng’s two wins, including his Section 5A record in the 500 free, helped spur the Cardinal boys’ swimming and diving team to the 5A True Team championship and a spot at the State True Team meet this Saturday, January 21, at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center.

This was Alexandria’s inaugural appearance in the 5A meet, and according to the pre-meet seedings, the Cards were favored to finish first.

The Redbirds outscored Detroit Lakes by 126 points for the top spot behind 20 top-eight finishes. The Lakers will advance to the State True Team meet as the wild card team.

Aaseng’s two firsts led the team as he was tops in the 200 free in 1:52.11 and capped that with a first in the 500 in 5:07.53, breaking the old mark of 5:20.78 in exceptional style.

Six of the Cardinals’ relay teams placed in the top eight as well, with Kyle Blank, Zach Cahlin, Aaseng and Eric Moe second in the 200 free; and Zac Bartolomeo, Elliot Jacobson, Moe and Max Jacobson finishing third in the 200 medley relay.

M. Jacobson, Austin McCulloch, Cahlin and Aaseng were fourth in the 200 free; Paul Meland, John Vinje, Mark Kallevig and Cahlin were sixth in the 200 medley; Jesse Hacker, E. Jacobson, Sean Norheim and Vinje were seventh in the 200 free; and Ben Tollefson, Aaron Pietrowski, Kallevig and Bartolomeo were eighth in the 400 free.

Along with Aaseng, several Alexandria swimmers had two top-eight finishes apiece: Moe, third in the 50 free in 23.50 and third in the 100 free in 51.45; Bartolomeo, eighth in the 200 IM in 2:22.06 and seventh in the 100 back in 1:02.39; E. Jacobson, third in diving with a 325 and fourth in the 100 breaststroke in 1:06.00; and Kallevig, fifth in the 100 IM in 2:19.78 and fifth in the 100 fly in 1:01.33.

The Redbirds had 27 season best performances – two each from Kallevig, Moe, Tollefson, Gage Winger, Blank and Jake Strand.

“The most notable improvements were seen from Tollefson, slicking five seconds from his 200 free time; Kyle Pietrowski dropping three seconds in the 500 free, Michael Taillefer lowering his previous best by 2.5 seconds in the 100 breastroke, and Jordan Wallin taking just over two seconds off in the 100 breaststroke,” said head coach Mark Storhaug.

Alexandria will face Mankato East/Loyola, St. Thomas Academy, Chisago Lakes, Sartell-St. Stephen, Virginia, Breck/Blake, Red Wing, Simley and Detroit Lakes in the Class A competition.

SECTION 6A TRUE TEAM

TEAM SCORES – 1. Alexandria 1,155, 2. Detroit Lakes 1,029, 3. Melrose/Sauk Centre 1,014, 4. Fergus Falls 990, 5. Park Rapids 803, 7. Perham 722, 7. Morris Area 217.

200 MEDLEY RELAY – 3. Zac Bartolomeo, Elliot Jacobson, Eric Moe, Max Jacobson 1:49.03, 6. Paul Meland, John Vinje, Mark Kallevig, Zach Cahlin 1:54.15, 11. Spencer Brand, Kyle Blank, Sean Norheim, Jesse Hacker 1:59.70, 16. Jake Strand, Jordan Wallin, Gage Winger, Ryan Wersinger 2:06.63.

200 FREE – 1. Kris Aaseng 1:52.11, 9. Austin McCulloch 2:01.79, 13. Aaron Pietrowski 2:06.32, 14. John Vinje 2:07.50.

200 IM – 5. Mark Kallevig 2:19.78, 8. Zac Bartolomeo 2:22.06, 11. Kyle Pietrowski 2;30.70, 16. Spencer Brand 2:36.59.

50 FREE – 3. Eric Moe 23.50, 9. Max Jacobson 24.24, 10. Kyle Blank 24.31, 13. Sean Norheim 25.19.

DIVING – 3. Elliot Jacobson 325, 13. Jimmy Pfeffer 207.05, 16. Riley Maanum 128.56, 17. Wesley Graves 109.95.

100 FLY – 5. Mark Kallevig 1:01.33, 8. Max Jacobson 1:03.75, 14. Sean Norheim 1:07.23.

100 FREE – 3. Eric Moe 51.45, 10. Zach Cahlin 55.24, 12. Jake Strand 57.25, 13. Ben Tollefson 58.26.

500 FREE – 1. Kris Aaseng 5;07.53, 4. Austin McCulloch 5:35.30, 5. Aaron Pietrowski 5:37.05, 9. Kyle Pietrowski 5:50.29.

200 FREE RELAY – 2. Kyle Blank, Zach Cahlin, Kris Aaseng, Eric Moe 1:36.16, 7. Jesse Hacker, Elliot Jacobson, Sean Norheim, John Vinje 1:41.73, 9. Jordan Wallin, Gage Winger, Ben Tollefson, Dalton Myhr 1:45.74, 21. Michael Taillefer, Wesley Graves, Aaron Halvorson, Riley Maanum 2:00.21.

100 BACK – 7. Zac Bartolomeo 1:02.39, 9. Paul Meland 1:06.74, 13. Jake Strand 1:10.07, 15. Spencer Brand 1:10.22.

100 BREAST – 4. Elliot Jacobson 1:06.00, 8. John Vinje 1:11.79, 11. Kyle Blank 1:13.25, 16. Jordan Wallin 1:17.45.

400 FREE RELAY – 4. Max Jacobson, Austin McCulloch, Zach Cahlin, Kris Aaseng 3:39.93, 8. Ben Tollefson, Aaron Pietrowski, Mark Kallevig, Zac Bartolomeo 3:53.96, 10. Jesse Hacker, Kyle Pietrowski, Dalton Myhr, Jake Strand 3:58.60, 17. Matt Russel, Ryan Wersinger, Aaron Halvorson, Jimmy Pfeffer 4:20.34.

Follow #AlexMN @EchoPress Sports Editor Lori Mork on Twitter at @morkwriter.

Tags: alexandria sports, sports, cardinals, boys, swimming, diving