Swimmers Put St. Michael on Map at State

With more than 50 teams competing at the State AA Boys' Swim Meet at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center last weekend, the squad made a bigger splash in 2012, finishing just out of the top 20.

The Knights, with one diver and handful of swimmers to represent the Section 8-2A third place squad, finished 21s thanks to its two relay teams, sprinter Noah Dalluge, diver Kyle Winkelman and swimmer Grant Moser.

In prelims, the Knights pulled out a school record and the 16th-fastest time in the 200 (yard) Medley Relay. Dalluge moved into the state finals with a ninth place finish in the 50 freestyle. Moser finished 24th in his event, good for a personal best and new school record. Brandon Richardson finished 22nd in the 100 free, missing the finals by less than two seconds. And the 200 free relay team cruised to the finals with a ninth place finish.

Winkelman, a senior, advanced to the second day in the big pool, finishing 16th.

That's where he would fnish to lead of the day in 1 meter diving, the highest finish for a diver at Class AA from St. Michael-Albertville, of course, in the school's two seasons now at this level.

But the highlight of the meet was the 200-yard frestyle relay, which missed All-American Consideration by .16 seconds and was fifth overall at the meet. The run lowered the school record by more than one second, and put the Knights on the map, said coach Tom Guillou.

"We wanted a strong finish and you always just want to continue dropping time," Guillou said.

Dalluge swam a strong first heat in his final, good enough for 12th overall. And the 200 medley relay finished in 16th to round out the scoring for the Knights.

St. Michael-Albertville finished with the Mississippi 8 Conference title, an undefeated 8-0 record in dual meets, and the bronze in Section 8-2A, just missing a team appearance for the first time.