Park boys swimming & diving: Wolfpack sunk by East Ridge

Last week, the Park boys swimming and diving team went head-to-head with one of the top teams in the state in intra-district and Suburban East Conference rival East Ridge. And the Raptors didn’t disappoint.

Park fell 104-64 to East Ridge, which is ranked fourth in the state, on Tuesday, Jan. 8, in Cottage Grove.

East Ridge won every event of the meet, and there were four events that the Raptors placed first, second and third – the 200-yard freestyle, the 200-yard individual medley, the 500-yard freestyle, the 100-yard backstroke and the 100-yard breaststroke. East Ridge also broke the Cottage Grove Middle School pool record in the 400-yard freestyle relay, which was held by St. Thomas Academy. The previous record had been 3 minutes, 24.73 seconds. The Raptors re-set it as 3:20.36.

Park finished second in six events. Park senior Michele Pau earned second place in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 23.12. East Ridge’s James Tidd won the race in 22.43. Pau was also third in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:10.73.

Park senior Matt Henry placed second in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 1:05.02. Tidd won the event in 57.01.

Park’s 200-medley relay team of Pau, sophomore Kevin Riepe, Henry and freshman Aaron Lewis earned second place with a time of 1:52.38. East Ridge won with a 1:44.21 time and Park’s 200-yard freestyle relay team of Pau, sophomore Jarret Mansergh, senior Nick Popowitz and eighth grader Mack Christian earned second with a time of 1:41.92. Also, Park’s 400-yard relay team of Mansergh, Lewis, Henry and junior Eric Solem placed second with a time of 3:41.21.

In the diving competition, Park junior Kevin Roettger placed second with a score of 162.20. East Ridge’s Max Samuelson won the event (175.10).

Next, Park plays host to Forest Lake on Thursday.

Tags: sports, swim, park, wolfpack, prep, updates