The Alexandria boys swimming and diving program had another standout season that included a fifth-place finish at the Class A state meet, and that left a lot of athletes to honor at this year’s postseason banquet.
The Cardinals had a sophomore who earned the team’s High Point Award for racking up the most team points of the season. Nicolas Welle did that as part of a huge season that included being all-state in the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 200-freestyle relay and 400-freestyle relay. Welle was also All-Central Lakes Conference in all four events and was voted by his teammates as a 2020-2021 captain.
Anthony Hoyt and Aidan Staples shared the Cardinals’ Hardest Worker Award. Hoyt was a three-time all-state performer this winter in the 200 freestyle, 500 freestyle and 400-freestyle relay, along with earning All-CLC finishes in all three events.
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Alexandria’s Most-Improved Award was shared by Carter Holm and 7th-grader Cooper Running. Holm competed at the state meet and was all-state in the 200-medley relay and 400-freestyle relay, while also being All-CLC in the 400-freestyle relay.
The final team-voted award went to Jake Porter for Rookie of the Year as the senior joined the sport for his final season and made an impact with the Cardinals.
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Alexandria’s overall success was a result of the team’s depth, and it was evident by the group’s statewide and conference honors.
In addition to Hoyt, Welle and Holm, other athletes who earned all-state honors for their performance at the state meet were Thomas Williams (200-medley relay), Luca Dauer (200-medley relay, 200-freestyle relay), Jameson Molesworth (200-medley relay, 200-freestyle relay), Logan Tung (200-freestyle relay) and Torrey Olson-Rodel (400-freestyle relay).
All-state honorable-mention award winners were Olson Rodel (200 IM), Caden Kavanagh (diving), Dauer (100 butterfly), Molesworth (100 breaststroke) and Tung (100 breaststroke). Molesworth (200 medley relay, 100 breaststroke, 200-freestyle relay), Dauer (200-medley relay, 100 butterfly, 200-freestyle relay), Thomas Williams (200-medley relay, 100 backstroke), Tung (200 IM, 200-medley relay, 100 breaststroke, 200-freestyle relay) and Olson Rodel (400-freestyle relay) were All-CLC athletes. Holm, Molesworth, Kavanagh, Williams and Tung also earned honorable-mention status in events at the conference meet.
The Cardinals also stood out in the classroom. Gold Academic Award winners with GPAs of 3.6-4.0 were Hoyt, Ethan Johnson, Zachary Timm, Staples, Erik Schabel, Coltan Koehn, Matthew Meyer, Welle, Erik Reineke and Axel Knudsen. Silver Academic Award Winners with GPAs between 3.0-3.59 were Williams, Eli Biggers, Joel Brault, Olson Rodel, Molesworth, Andrew Johnson and Tung.
