---

Swimming Prelims/Diving Finals

Jim Sauerbry still has trouble believing what he saw.

Last Wednesday, during the section 2A prelims, out of 44 swims, the Chisago Lakes boys swimming team posted 39 personal best times. Thirty-nine! In addition, four team records fell including two by senior Wayne Schafer in the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly. Both records were previously held by Schafer himself. In addition, last Wednesday was also the diving finals, giving Brian Willhite, Jeremy Salokar, and Adam Sill an opportunity to shine. Willhite placed first, Salokar second, and Sill fourth, meaning all three will be diving at the state diving meet this weekend (top four advance to state).

Not a bad day’s work hah?

“The divers got us off to a great start,” said Sauerbry, head Chisago Lakes swimming coach. “We knew after that, we would be making another trip to state.”

Schafer would soon add his name to that list. The senior started the day by helping the Chisago 200 yard medley relay place sixth in prelims, advancing them to the “A” final on Friday (only athletes swimming in the “A” final have a chance to advance to state). After John Roggemann reached the “A” final by placing seventh in the 200 IM, Schafer made the pool boil once again, finishing third in the 50 freestyle and third in the butterfly. Both swims set new team records.

“The medley relay was exciting. The kids got out there and they could feer how fast they were swimming,” mentioned Sauerbry. “I couldn’t believe how fast the kids were swimming, it was just amazing. Then Wayne breaks his own record in the 50 free and butterfly. You could just tell that he was feeling it.”

The Chisago 200 yard and 400 yard freestyle relay teams finished the day by advancing to Friday’s “A” final as well, both finishing in the top eight.

Swimming finals

Last Friday, the section meet swam into its final day, and whether the Wildcats were fighting for a state berth or not, their times kept dropping. This time, out of 30 swims, 17 were personal bests.

However, not everything was perfect. In the first event of the day, the Chisago Lakes 200 medley relay team was disqualified for a jump, eliminating their shot at a state berth. It was a tough way to start competition.

“When we got disqualified in the medley relay, that really took some wind out of our sails,” replied Sauerbry. “It was a lot more challenging to get things going again. Then Wayne (Schafer) got second in the free and we started building that momentum back up a little bit, but it was tough to overcome that.”

After Roggemann finished seventh in the 200 IM “A” final, missing the state cut by five seconds, Schafer came to the rescue, first by taking second in the 50 freestyle, then by following that up with a second in the butterfly. Both swims were once again team records and both were good enough to advance the senior to state. Schafer went so fast that in the fly alone, he shaved over a second off his time from Wednesday night.

“He’s going to go even faster at state, I don’t think he’s peaking yet,” said Sauerbry. “In the fly, I think he can take the whole thing. He’s been very one-sided in his goal, he knows exactly what he wants. He’s feeling the water really well right now.”

Despite strong swims the rest of the way, Schafer was the only Chisago swimmer to make the state cut. The senior will take to the pool on Friday when the state class “A” preliminaries get underway at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center. As for the divers, Willhite, Salokar, and Sill will begin their preliminary round on Thursday starting at 12 p.m. Both the swimming and diving finals will take place on Saturday at noon.

“We have the potential to have two state champs,” mentioned Sauerbry, referring to Schafer and Willhite. “With the top eight getting medals, we have a chance to bring home a lot of medals as well. It’s a great time of year and I’m really having fun. Hopefully we can keep it all going this weekend.”

After not placing at last year’s state tournament in the butterfly, Schafer will be looking to medal for the first time. As for diving, Willhite placed third at last season’s state diving meet. Sill followed with a seventh place finish and Salokar took 11.

Note:

At the section meet,

Brian Willhite was named

section diver of the year and

Lisa Willhite was named

section diving coach of the year.

Section 2A Team Results- (Top 5)

1. Blake/Breck 360

2. Monticello 329

3. Fridley 232

4. Orono 228

5. Chisago Lakes 216

Individual Results (CL only)-

Preliminaries-

200 Medley Relay:

6. Chisago Lakes 1:51.99*

Roggemann, B. Willhite, Schafer, Stignani)

200 freestyle:

12. Steve Boo 2:03.48

14. Trevor Schuler 2:04.32

18. Andy Shaleen 2:11.93

21. John Donahue 2:21.87

200 IM:

7. John Roggemann 2:15.39*

15. David Willhite 2:33.04

17. Cameron Novak 2:36.21

50 Freestyle:

3. Wayne Schafer 22.98*

13. Greg Stignani 25.05

20. Joey Swanson 26.64

26. Sam Tosteson 29.27

Diving- Finals:

1. Brian Willhite 425.60#

2. Jeremy Salokar 375.65#

4. Adam Sill 365.55#

100 Butterfly:

3. Wayne Schafer 55.07*

9. John Roggemann 1:00.73

15. Cameron Novak 1:08.75

16. Joey Swanson 1:09.49

100 Freestyle:

12. Greg Stignani 56.30

22. Jeremy Salokar 1:03.84

27. Trevor Schuler 1:05.14

28. Marty Olson 1:05.83

100 Breaststroke:

11. Brian Willhite 1:12.73

13. Andrew Turner 1:14.41

17. Trevor Schuler 1:20.68

19. Charlie Kopp 1:25.34

400 Freestyle Relay:

5. Chisago Lakes 3:36.64*

(Roggemann, Stignani, Boo, Schafer)

*Advance to “A” final

#Advance to state tournament

Finals-

200 Medley Relay:

DQ- Chisago Lakes

200 freestyle:

12. Steve Boo 2:03.94

15. Trevor Schuler 2:05.18

200 IM:

7. John Roggemann 2:15.74

13. Andrew Turner 2:27.46

50 Freestyle:

2. Wayne Schafer 22.93#

16. Greg Stignani 25.24

100 Butterfly:

2. Wayne Schafer 54.00#

9. John Roggemann 59.72

15. Cameron Novak 1:08.06

16. Joey Swanson 1:08.80

100 Freestyle:

12. Greg Stignani 55.70

500 Freestyle:

9. Trevor Schuler 5:35.82

13. Andy Shaleen 5:53.46

200 Freestyle Relay:

8. Chisago Lakes 1:44.95

(Swanson, Novak, Turner, D. Willhite)

100 Backstroke:

13. Steve Boo 1:09.58

15. Adam Sill 1:12.38

100 Breaststroke:

13. Brian Willhite 1:13.25

14. Andrew Turner 1:14.12

400 Freestyle Relay:

5. Chisago Lakes 3:33.84

(Roggemann, Stignani, Boo, Schafer)

#Advance to state tournament

---