---

The Chisago Lakes boys' swim team finished 15th at the State Swimming and Diving Meet at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center February 28-March 1. St. Thomas Academy won the event with 247 points. Fergus Falls was second with 197. The Wildcats totalled 63 points.

Wildcats earned medals in three events. Tom McGurk (breast stroke) and Andy Willhite (diving) came home with fifth place awards. The 200 medley relay team (Alex Lundberg, McGurk, Kevin Roggemann and Willhite) earned a medal for its seventh place finish.

First year head coach Mark Nordby said, "Our first day down there, on Friday, was very good and put us in the right position to score points in all of the events. Both relays and the four individual events made it to Saturday, which is a big step forward for this team."

The top 16 finishers from Friday's prelims qualify to compete Saturday, with the top eight swimmers making finals and the ninth-16th place finishers making consolation finals. "Making it to Saturday is a big deal. But, making finals is huge," Nordby explained. "It puts the swimmers in the fastest heat and everyone is guaranteed a podium finish."

The 200 medley relay placed seventh in Friday's prelims with a 1:43.23 and in the finals on Saturday with a time of 1:43.00. "We made it a goal to have a podium finish in the medley," the coach said. "During practices, I often reminded the swimmers about having a medal hung around their necks at state. Now they'll have that memory forever. I know they were a little disappointed in not swimming as fast as they had at Hibbing, but just to make finals is a big step for any team. They should be proud."

McGurk punctuated a fine season by breaking his own school records in the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke Friday. "Tom was amazing. His 200 IM looked so strong and powerful," Nordby commented. McGurk lowered his IM record almost two seconds (from 2:09.85 to 2:08.03) placing him 12th going into finals. Later in the meet, he swam the 100 breaststroke in another school-record time of 1:01.60 and into the Saturday's final heat with a fourth-place finish.

McGurk wasn't quite as fast Saturday. He swam to a 15th place finish in the 200 IM, with 2:09.50, and a fifth place finish in the 100 breaststroke (1:01.75). "I know Saturday didn't go as Tom had wanted, but I was so proud of him for making finals and seeing him on the award stand with a fifth-place medal. He really had an outstanding year. He's competing against swimmers who are training 12 months a year. For Tom to make podium is a huge statement about his ability to put together a fast swim with just three months of hard work," Nordby said.

Willhite secured his place as one of the top divers in the state with a fifth place finish. After Thursday's prelims, he was in sixth place with 224.70 points, just three points out of fifth. Saturday during the final three rounds, Willhite performed three solid dives and finished in fifth place with 333.20, four places ahead of his finishes from the last two years. Nordby noted, "That was great to see Andy on the podium after missing the award by one place stand the last two years. He put it all together and had a great state meet."

Junior Kevin Roggemann had a solid performance and made consolation finals in the 100 butterfly. "I know that, last year, Kevin's goal was to make it to state. But, this year's goal was to score points. He did that and lowered his personal best time to 56.84 and made it to consolation finals, where he placed 12th. He's already talking about next year and what he wants to accomplish. He's a great competitor and I look forward to seeing Kevin on the podium in 2009," coach Nordby said.

The 200 freestyle relay team (Brody Heggerston, Willhite, Jake Spehar, and Roggemann) realized its goals of breaking the school record and making it to Saturday's consolation finals. Nordby commented, "They did it. None of these guys were on the 200 free relay last year and here they were at state, breaking the school record, and scoring points for the team. That's a pretty big accomplishment."

Their time of 1:33.40 broke the 200 free relay school record of 1:33.90, set last year at the state meet. Three out of the four relay swimmers will return next year, Spehar being the lone graduating senior. "Spehar was awesome and had the fastest split on the relay at 23.01. Brody, Andy, and Rogge will be back for this relay. We need to find one guy who'll step up now and take that fourth spot. We'll see who really wants it."

Overall, Coach Nordby was pleased with the team's state meet accomplishments, saying, "I was proud of the team and look forward to many more trips to the state meet in the coming years."

---