Section 1AA and 1A boys swimming and diving meets pushed back due to weather

WHEN: The swimming preliminary round has been pushed back to Friday and the championship finals are on Saturday. Each session begins at 6 p.m. The diving prelims, semifinals and finals are at 12 p.m. on Saturday in Lakeville.

WHERE: Rochester Recreation Center (swimming), Lakeville (diving).

TEAMS (with last year's section finish): 1. Lakeville South 458, 2. Century 377, 3. Lakeville North 341, 4. Mayo 248, 5. Farmington 238, 6. John Marshall 202, 7. Owatonna 167.

ON THE LINE: The top two swimmers and relays in each event earn an automatic state berth along with any other swimmer or relay that meets a pre-set time standard. The top four divers also earn state berths.

SECTION TEAM CONTENDERS: Century, Lakeville South, Lakeville North, Mayo.

Returning state qualifiers: Jack Homme, Nathan Kram, Owen Kelly.

Top section contenders: “Any one of our swim and dive team members could be considered top contenders at sections,” coach Linda Freeman said.

Section qualifiers: Grady Bargfrede, Matt Ding, Grant Garrison, Eli Holmes, Jack Homme, Albert Hu, Owen Kelly, Nathan Kram, Andrew Linden, Felix Lu, Everett Nord, Gavin Potter, Jensen Richard, William Truskowski, Joe Vesterby, Nathan Zhang, Silas Wagstaff (diving), Kael Berry (diving).

How the Panthers stack up: Century was unbeaten in dual meets during the regular season and was the decisive winner at the Big Nine Conference meet.The Panthers will be in the running for a section team title. “It is never easy to go up against the Lakeville South and North teams, but we are looking forward to bringing our best against their best,” Freeman said. “I like the chances of our swimmers and divers to do well at the section meet.”

Returning state qualifiers: None.

Top section contender: Andrew Ogren.

Section qualifiers: Konrad Deetz, Ryan Jirik, Noah Lemke, Luke Leidl, Ivan Mamaril, Mason Nguyen, Maxwell Nguyen, John Njeru, Paul Njeru, Eli Norris, Andrew Ogren, Andrew Sonnabend, Alex Younk.

How the Rockets stack up: The Rockets do not have the depth to compete at a high level in the section meet and coach Paul Bachman expects the team to finish seventh in the seven-team meet. “Not a large team, but that is almost all the swimmers I had this year,” he said of his section qualifiers. “(Assistant coach) Kendrick (Bachman) and I are hoping for 100% new personal records.”

Returning state qualifier: Logan Atkinson.

Top section contenders: Alonso Montori, Logan Atkinson, Aiden Johnson.

Section qualifiers: Braden Armstrong, Caleb Fogelson, Aiden Johnson, Payton Mitchell, Alonso Montor, Simon Argue, Logan Atkinson, Matthew Benscoter, Noah Larson, Samuel Pike, Quinn Collins, Nicklaus Gustafson, Schafer Cheney, Nikhil Kaufman, Eoin Porrata, Alex Robinson, Ben Weingarten, William Boorjian, Evan Cunningham, Kayvon Kalantari, William Leasure.

How the Spartans stack up: Mayo is coming off a second-place finish at the Big Nine Conference meet and is looking to finish in the top three at the section meet. “The guys … have been spot on this past week in preparation for this week's meet,” coach Ted Dow said. “We hope to complete the season with a section runner-up and a few state qualifiers.”

WHEN: The swimming preliminary round has been pushed back to Friday and the championship finals are on Saturday. Each session begins at 12 p.m. The diving prelims, semifinals and finals have been moved to 5 p.m. Saturday at Century High School in Rochester.

WHERE: Rochester Recreation Center (swimming), Century High School (diving).

TEAMS (with last year's section finish): 1. Mankato East 375, 2. Northfield 361, 3. Winona 294, 4. Simley 250, 5. (tie) Austin, Mankato West 218, 7. Red Wing 159, 8. New Prague 146, 9. Faribault 59, 10. Albert Lea 40.

ON THE LINE: The top three swimmers and relays in each event earn an automatic state berth along with any other swimmer or relay that meets a pre-set time standard. The top four divers also earn state berths.

SECTION TEAM CONTENDERS: Mankato East, Northfield.

Returning state qualifiers: Kenny Cabeen, Winston Walkup, Joey Hilkin.

Top section contenders: Kenny Cabeen, Brent Dahl, Winston Walkup, Zach Evenson, Joey Hilkin, Riley Ferguson (diving).

Section qualifiers: Kenny Cabeen, Joey Hilkin, Winston Walkup, Zach Evenson, Riley Ferguson, Noah Holt, Jackson Hilkin, Lucas Myers, Thomas Asmus, Brent Dahl, Carter Holt, Gage Rasmussen, Zach Voogd, Hunter Peters.

How the Packers stack up: “I like our team, despite our small numbers,” coach Ryan Kelly said. “We should have some very strong finishes, and compete for top spots in most events. In terms of team standings. If we perform at our potential, we should be fighting for a top three or four finish. We have as balanced a group of three relays as we’ve had since I’ve been the coach here in Austin.”

— Guy N. Limbeck, glimbeck@postbulletin.com