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Friday notes from 2A/1A: Whyte sets meet-record pace in 100-yard backstroke

By STAFF REPORTS, 03/02/18, 11:36PM CST

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North St. Paul senior Mitchell Whyte set a state record in the 100-yard backstroke on Friday in the preliminaries


Jack Dahlgren of Chanhassen swam the 100 yard backstroke on Friday. Photo: ANTHONY SOUFFLE * anthony.souffle@startribune.com


Mitchell Whyte

North St. Paul senior Mitchell Whyte set a state record in the 100-yard backstroke on Friday in the preliminaries of Class 2A state swimming meet at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center.

Whyte swam the event in 48.10 seconds and broke the record, set last year by Chanhassen senior Jack Dahlgren, by .18 seconds. Dahlgren took second in the prelims with a time of 48.76 seconds in the ensuing heat.

“I didn’t think I was going to go that fast, but it definitely felt great,” Whyte said. He predicted he would have to swim a faster time Saturday to win the event and that Dahlgren would be ready to swim fast.

Class 1A prelims: Breck/Blake leads the way

Breck/Blake coach Kris Rosenberg said his team isn’t focused on winning trophies.

“We preach the present tense to the kids,” Rosenberg said. “We want to master the moment and just do our best.”

On Friday, Breck/Blake put on a nearly flawless performance in the preliminaries of the Class 1A meet.

Breck/Blake opened defense of its Class 1A title by advancing all three relay teams and 15 individuals to Saturday’s championship finals.

“Things went very well,” Rosenberg said. “We have an experienced group of juniors, who learned a lot at last year’s meet. They know what to expect.”

One junior who stood out in the preliminaries for Breck/Blake was Anderson Breazeale, who had the top qualifying time in the 200-yard individual medley and the 100 backstroke. He also swam a leg on Breck/Blake’s 200 medley relay, which advanced with the top time in the preliminaries (1:34.60).

“Anderson was on fire today,” Rosenberg said. “Led off the medley relay and then got the top seed in the 200 individual medley, and that’s not his best event.”

Defending champs set pace

Winona senior Griffin Wolner, the defending Class 1A champion in the 200 and 500 freestyle, had the top qualifying time in each event on Friday.

Wolner’s time of 1:41.16 in the 200 was faster than his winning time (1:41.63) at last year’s state meet.

Wolner also swam a leg on Winona’s 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle relay teams, which had the top qualifying times.

Alexandria’s Nic Chromey, the only other returning individual champion in Class 1A, had the top qualifying time in the 100 breaststroke. His time of 56.30 was faster than his winning time of last year of 57.34.

Diving preliminaries

Sauk Rapids-Rice’s Jack Grabinski, who finished sixth last year, had the top qualifying score (290.55) in the Class 1A diving preliminaries held Thursday. In Class 2A, Prior Lake’s P.J. Lenz, fifth last year, (335.45) had the top score.

Joel Rippel

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