Josiah March had a number on his paper all season, his co-head coach Brian Wright said: 4 minutes, 34.46 seconds. The time to beat for the Class 1A record in the 500-yard freestyle.
Breck/Blake ties record with seventh consecutive Class 1A boys swimming and diving title
Rochester in 1953-59 had been the only boys swimming and diving team to win seven in a row.
By Heather Rule
March 4, 2023 at 9:48PM
March, a junior for Breck/Blake, touched the wall in 4 minutes, 34.39 seconds in Saturday's Class 1A boys swimming and diving state meet.
"It wasn't until really in the moment when I realized that I could get it," March said.
His individual title was one of nine victories in 12 events for Breck/Blake as the team won its seventh consecutive Class 1A team title with 408 points at the University of Minnesota's Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center. Seven in a row ties the record set by Rochester in 1953-59. St. Thomas Academy came in second with 204 points and Orono third with 167.
Breck/Blake swept the three relays, winning the 200 medley, where it is six-time defending champion; the 200 freestyle relay (three-time defending champ); and the 400 freestyle relay (back-to-back champ) by 12 seconds.
"We definitely are blessed with some athletes," Wright said.
One day after setting a state record in the 100 breaststroke (53.53), senior Charlie Egeland won the title with a 53.84. Egeland also won the 200 individual medley and was on two of the relays. But he was happiest with his record-setting performance in the preliminaries.
"I obviously wanted to try to beat it," Egeland said. "It didn't really work out. That's why I just wanted to go all out in prelims, just to get as many opportunities as possible to go after that."
Hutchinson junior Conner Hogan was the only non-Breck/Blake swimmer to win Saturday. He won the 50 freestyle and defended his title in the 100 butterfly with a Class 1A record time of 48.93. It took some convincing from his Hutchinson coach, Rory Fairbanks, earlier this season for Hogan to go after the 100 fly.
"[Fairbanks] said, 'I know you can break that record,' " Hogan said. "... The one thing that I really wanted coming into today was that record."
Chisago Lakes senior Jimmy Nord won the diving title with a 442.00 total after finishing third last year.
CLASS 1A STATE MEET RECORDS SET
100 butterfly: Conner Hogan, Hutchinson, 48.93. Previous: 49.28 by Grant Wolner, Winona, 2020.
500 freestyle: Josiah March, Breck/Blake, 4:34.39. Previous: 4:34.46 by Nico Losinski, Simley, 2022.
about the writer
Heather Rule
Six players plus head coach Garrett Raboin and assistant coach Ben Gordon are from Minnesota. The tournament’s games will be televised starting Monday.
