BSM Boys’ Swimming burst onto the MSHSL State Swimming Championship scene on Friday, March 4 at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center with six swimmers raring and ready to go. The Prelims of State were held on Friday afternoon and those who advanced from Prelims, swam at Finals on Saturday afternoon. The top sixteen swimmers from each event advanced to either the Consolation or Championship Finals.

At Prelims on Friday, the team swam about the same as at Section 2A Finals, sending about half of individuals/teams to Finals.  Junior captain Tyler Metz made it into the Championship Final in the 200 and 100 yard Freestyle events, swimming times of 1:45.13 and 47.31, respectively.  Junior Tommy McGinn barely missed out on making Finals in the 200 yard Freestyle, earning 17th with a time of 1:49.67.  He did, however, qualify for Finals in the 500 yard Freestyle by going 4:57.61, as did freshman Matt McGonigle, who went 5:00.69.  The 200 yard Freestyle Relay, which was comprised of Metz, sophomore Michael Hunter, senior captain Peter McCague, and McGinn, placed 18th overall, by going 1:32.31.  The 400 yard Freestyle Relay barely made Finals by placing 16th at Prelims, going 3:23.66.  

On Saturday, Metz started off Finals with a stellar 200 Freestyle swim. Metz received 7th place with a time of 1:44.74, and he was thus awarded a medal and a podium spot.  He also broke his own school record in the process.

After the Diving break, Metz swam the 100 yard Freestyle and finished 4th overall with a time of 46.88, again breaking his own school record in the process.  Again, Metz was awarded a medal and a podium spot.  “I think I did well in both of my events and I am very happy with my times. I am most proud of how I finished in the 100 free though,” Metz said.

Next, McGinn and McGonigle, swam the 500 yard Freestyle, side by side.  McGinn finished 10th overall with a time of 4:54.66, being three-tenths off the school record, and McGonigle finished 15th overall with a time of 5:00.30.

Finally, the last event of the meet was the 400 Freestyle Relay. BSM was seeded 16th going into finals.  The relay was comprised of McGinn, McGonigle, junior Jack Boase, and Metz, and would have finished 16th, but was unfortunately disqualified due to a false start from one of the swimmers.  BSM as a team finished 19th out of 29 teams for the Class A State Championships.  “I think overall State went very well. We performed well as a team and we had a lot of individual successes too.  I think everyone had fun and enjoyed the end of the season,” Metz said.