2023 MSHSL Boy’s Class A Swimming and Diving State Championships
- March 2-4, 2023
- University of Minnesota Aquatic Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Short Course Yards (SCY)
- Full Meet Results
- Results on MeetMobile: “2023 MSHSL Boys A Swim & Dive Championships”
For the seventh straight year, the boys of the Breck-Blake co-op came away from the MSHSL Class A State Championship meet with the state title. Breck-Blake was dominant as they continued their winning streak, finishing with double the score of runner-up St. Thomas, even after graduating their best swimmer and one of the best high school swimmer’s in the state’s history, Charlie Crosby.
Class A includes the state’s smaller high schools. Even with the combined efforts of two schools, Breck School and Blake School in Minneapolis, the Breck/Blake Co-Op still only includes only about 1,000 students in grades 9-12.
Helping Breck-Blake to its dominant win were Josiah March and Charlie Egeland, with both setting new Class A records during the meet.
March’s record-setting performance came in the 500 free, where he took down a record that was set just last year by Nico Losinki of Simley at 4:34.46. After sitting in second through the first half of the race behind eventual runner-up Cash Walz of Sauk Rapids-Rice, March split 55.77 and 53.47 over the final 100’s to claim gold and the state record in a time of 4:34.39.
While March’s record came in a tight race, Egeland’s came in a dominant performance, with the senior winning by over two seconds. Egeland became the first Class A swimmer to finish the 100 breast under 54.0, touching in 53.84 to break former teammate James Pan‘s record of 54.16 .
While he was slightly slower during finals of the event, Egeland added a second state record during prelims of the 200 IM. In his first swim of the event, he broke another record previously held by James Pan, touching in 1:47.27. He was slightly slower during finals, winning in 1:48.08. The 2023 Yale commit now owns three individual state records, having set the 200 free record at 1:38.00 a year ago.
Breck-Blake wasn’t the only program to set records at the meet as Hutchinson junior Conner Hogan also took down a record of his own. Breaking the 49.0 barrier in the 100 fly for the first time in Class A history, Hogan took gold with a time of 48.93. Prior to the meet, the state record stood at 49.28, set by Winona’s Grant Wolner in 2020. That performance marks a huge best time for Hogan who, entering the meet, had never been below 50.0 in the race. Hogan would also add a second title in the 50 free, winning with a time of 20.21.
Nearly taking down Egeland’s 200 free state record was teammate Henry Webb, who finished just over a tenth off of Egeland’s time from a year ago. Webb finished in a time of 1;38.14, with March joining him on the podium in second (1:42.65).
Webb would later battle with teammate Jack Schurtz-Ford for the top spot in the 100 free. In that race, it was Schurtz-Ford who came out on top, upsetting the defending champion in the race. Like Webb in the 200 free, Schurtz-Ford narrowly missed the Class A record in the 100 free, finishing in 44.85. Webb was just behind him with a time of 44.92.
Schurtz-Ford later picked up a second state title in the 100 back. He was the only swimmer to dip below 50.0 in the race, finishing with a time of 49.78.
On the diving board it was senior Jimmy Nord who claimed his first title in the event. Nord finished with a score of 442.0.
Breck-Blake showcased it’s depth by easily sweeping the three relays. The school opened the meet by winning the 200 medley relay in 1:32.45 before later adding golds in the 200 free relay (1:25.27) and 400 free relay (3:02.58).
Team Scores
- Breck-Blake – 408
- St. Thomas – 204
- Orono – 167
- Sauk Rapids-Rice – 158
- Alexandria – 148
Private schools that recruit athletes shouldn’t be able to compete against public schools in the post season. They have been dominating the pool and no one else has a chance to win. At the very least they should be placed in the highest class so they have to go up against larger metro schools.
I kind of like the system they’ve just implemented in Kansas. There it’s basically “private schools have to compete in the top division against the biggest schools…UNLESS they meet certain criteria” that are deemed to basically be positive missions for the general population.
https://staging.swimswam.com/some-of-kansas-top-swim-teams-might-be-forced-to-reclassify-next-season/