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Magi swimming & diving cleans up at state prelims

Justin Martinez/MDN Minot High’s Levi VonBrokern races down the lane Friday during the 100 Yard Butterfly in the State Boy’s’ Swimming and Diving Meet at the Bismarck State College Aquatic & Wellness Center.

UPDATE: A previous version of this article included incorrect times and placings. This has been corrected.

BISMARCK – There’s going to be a lot of maroon and gold at the state finals today.

The Minot High boys swimming & diving team made its presence known on Friday in the preliminary rounds of the state meet at the Bismarck State College Aquatic & Wellness Center. With the top 16 finishers from each event advancing to the finals, the Magi managed to qualify 14 different swimmers.

“We put ourselves in a great position going into (the finals),” MHS head coach Jake Solper said. “At a minimum, we have two Minot High athletes in the top eight of every event, and that really kind of shows the strength and the depth of this team.”

The Magi filled up the leaderboard in the 200-yard Freestyle.

Freshman Grant Schaeffer led the charge, placing third with a time of 1:49.64. Also qualifying was senior Peyton Huss in fifth (1:50.83), eight-grader Alexander King in sixth (1:51.08) and senior Keegan Summers in 14th (1:55.61).

The Magi then saw four more swimmers qualify in the 200 Individual Medley.

Dominic Yoder earned Minot its highest placing of the afternoon by taking second with a time of 2:02.02. Finishing right behind the sophomore was junior William Walker-Rozo, who took third with a time of 2:02.11. Also qualifying for the Magi was junior Jack Wolsky in fourth (2:02.25) and sophomore Josh Boen in eight (2:03.64).

Minot only managed to get one swimmer in the top five at the 50 Freestyle but still saw two qualify. Senior Steve Novak took fourth with a time of 21.98, while junior Zac Spaulding claimed eight with a time of 22.51.

In the diving well, four Magi currently sit in the top 10 and will advance to the semifinals beginning this morning at 10:30 a.m., where they will perform three more dives to determine who will move on to the finals beginning in the afternoon.

Junior Layton King currently sits in third with a score of 186.80, while Reece Pederson and Harrison Shanklin are tied for sixth with a score of 158.50. Sophomore Mason Robertson is in ninth (157.70).

“The divers had an amazing start to their state meet,” Solper said. “(It’s) a significant jump when two of the four divers were seeded 16th and 17th coming into the meet.”

Minot went four-for-four in the 100 Butterfly.

Walker-Rozo continued his strong outing with a fourth-place finish (54.70), Huss trailed not far behind with a fifth-place finish (54.90), junior Griffin Schaeffer claimed ninth (55.88) and eight-grader Levi VonBrokern took 12th (56.95).

The Magi qualified another two swimmers in the 100 Freestyle. Novak claimed fourth (49.42), while Spaulding took fifth (49.50).

Grant Schaeffer got his second top-five finish of the day at the 500 Freestyle, as he took fifth with a time of 5:04.58. Also qualifying was Alexander King in seventh (5:06.01) and Summers in 13th (5:14.92).

After a second-place finish in the 200 Individual Medley, Yoder kept rolling and took second once again in the 100 Backstroke with a time of 55.32.

Freshman Kalen Hill took eight with a time of 58.00. Also qualifying was Bartsch in ninth (58.44) and eight-grader Jaxon Reinke in 14th (59.93).

Closing out the day was the 100 Breaststroke, where another three Magi swimmers qualified. Wolsky claimed fourth by posting a 1:01.25, Griffin Schaeffer took fifth with a time of 1:01.54 and Boen finished 10th with a time of 1:03.75.

The Magi will be back in the water today for the biggest challenge of the season. State swimming and diving finals will begin at 1:15 p.m. today in Bismarck.

“(Saturday) is a day where they just have to get up and race,” Solper said. “It’s heads up, and seed times don’t matter. It’s just who is going to grind it out and get to the finish wall first.”

Justin Martinez covers Minot High School sports and Class B high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @JTheSportsDude.

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