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The Chisago Lakes swimming and diving team defeated Benilde-St. Margaret's 101-71 Tuesday, January 9. The win, at the CL pool, kept the Wildcats dual meet record unblemished in the North Suburban Conference.

The home team took first place in 10 of 12 events and swept the first three places in three of the first five events. By the break, after diving, the 'Cats had taken a commanding 50-17 lead.

Hunter Heggerston had a big night for the Wildcats, taking first in four separate events. He won the 200 freestyle (2:02.30) and the 100 freestyle (53.21) and swam the anchor leg in the 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle relays. Heggerston teamed with Ethan Karwand, Andy Willhite and Dave Willhite to win the 200 in 1:39.99 and with Karwand, Dave Willhite and Steve Boo in the 400 relay. Their time was 3:41.06.

Including the 400 relay, Boo had a a part in three first place finishes. He won the 50 freestyle in 24.92 and anchored the victorious 200 medley relay team (John Donahue, Tom McGurk, Kevin Roggeman) that finished in 1:51.38.

Donahue, Boo, Roggeman, A. Willhite and McGurk were the other winners for CL. Donahue won the 100 backstroke in 1:02.79, and Roggeman came in first in the 100 butterfly in 1:06.30. Willhite led a sweep in diving with 217.45 points and McGurk won the 200 individual medley by finishing in in 2:19.72.

Second place finishes went to Mark Eagan (200 freestyle), D. Willhite (50 freestyle), Alex Vitalis (diving), Dave Donahue (100 butterfly), Boo (500 freestyle), the 200 freestyle relay team (Brody Heggerston, Steve Larsen, Jake Spehar, K. Roggeman and Jon Harwell (100 breast stroke).

Chisago swimmers who finished third included Andrew Jokinen, J. Donahue, Karwand (2), Jack Vasatka, B. Heggerston and Alex Lundberg. The 200 medley relay team (Lundberg, Harwell, Spehar, B. Heggerston) and the 400 freestyle relay team (A. Willhite, K. Roggeman, Spehar, B. Roggeman) also got points for third place finishes.

"Chisago dominated from the beginning to end," said Wildcat head coach Jim Sauerbry. "I was impressed with the focus that the kids had on each race they swam."

True Team Section Meet

The Chisago Lakes swimming and diving team won the Section 2A True Team Meet at Spring Lake Park Saturday, January 13. The Wildcats took first by totalling 416 points. Monticello came in second with 406 and Spring Lake Park was third with 349.

"The meet was close from beginning to end," said Wildcat head coach Jim Sauerbry. After CL sophomore Andy Willhite won the diving, the fifth event of the the 12 event meet with a score of 357.50, the Wildcats had a 162-159 margin over Monticello. After 11 events, Monticello was up by a score of 354-352.

In the last event, the 400 yard freestyle relay, "Monticello had the lead over our top two relay teams," the coach said. "The anchor swimmers, Hunter Heggerston and Steve Boo, both swam great legs, overcoming the Monticello anchor." The success in the relay propelled the Wildcats past Monticello for the win.

Other highlights of the meet included two new school records. "John Donahue continued breaking his own record in the backstroke (1:01.08) and Tom McGurk destroyed our old team record of 1:06.96 by going 1:04.95 in the breast stroke," Sauerbry added. Donahue's win in event 10 and McGurk's in event 11 set up the exciting finish and made it possible for the 'Cats to overcome Monticello in the 400 relay.

Heggerston collected the other first place finishes for CL. He won event four, the 50 yard freestyle in 23.40, nearly a second ahead of Luke Albares from Monticello. Three events later, he completed the 100 freestyle .33 ahead of Albares to take first.

The Wildcats finished second in five events. Alex Lundberg, McGurk, Dave Willhite and Heggerston were second in the 200 medley relay in 1:53.76. McGurk finished the 200 individual medley in 2:19.06 and Kevin Roggeman's 1:03.11 in the 100 butterfly was good enough for second place.

Mark Eagan, Roggemann, A. Willhite and Ethan Karwand were second in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:40.13. David Donahue, D. Willhite, Brody Heggerston and H. Heggerston earned the last Wildcat second with a time of 3:46.27 in the 400 freestyle relay.

The 'Cats also earned third place in five events. The 200 medley relay team (J. Donahue, Eagan, Roggemann, Karwand) was third. Eagan took third in the 200 IM as did Boo in the 200 freestyle. McGurk, Luke Schuler, Ryan Smith and Boo in the 200 freestyle relay and Roggemann, A. Willhite, J. Donahue and Boo in the 400 freestyle relay took the final thirds for CL.

"The excitement of the meet made the kids swim fast. We had numerous season bests," Sauerbry commented. "We'll see Monticello at next week's meet along with the other top eight class A teams in the state."

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