Sabre swim team now at state tourney

The Sartell Sabre boys’ dive-and-swim team won the section 3A meet Feb. 28, and seven of its members are now competing in 10 events at the statewide tournament at the University of Minnesota Aquatics Center. The state meet began Thursday, March 5 and will continue through Saturday, March 7.

At the district meet in Sauk Rapids, the Sabres scored an impressive 527 in overall points, which is 144 points more than second-place Monticello. Hutchinson was third with 343 points, followed by Dassel-Cokato/Litchfield, Sauk Rapids, Montevideo, Cold Spring Rocori, Willmar and St. Cloud Apollo.

Time after time, the Sabres excelled at the Sauk Rapids sectional meet, taking many firsts.

The following are highlights:

• Three first-place wins for Sabre relay teams: the 200-yard freestyle (Mitchell Dockendorf, Chad Peichel), the 200-yard medley (Dockendorf, Zach Weiler, Jake Martin, Peichel) and the 400-yard freestyle (Dockendorf, Spencer Sathre).
• First place in the 200-yard freestyle (Sathre).
• First place in the 500-yard freestyle (Sathre).
• First place in the 100-yard backstroke (Dockendorf).
• First place in the 100-yard butterfly (Weiler).
• Second place in the 200-year individual medley (Dockendorf)
• Second place in the 100-yard breaststroke (Jacob Schumacher).
• Third place in the 50-yard freestyle (Peichel).
• Third place in the 100-yard butterfly (Isaac Stark).
• Third place in the 100-yard breaststroke (Martin).
• Third place in the 200-yard individual medley (Weiler).

At the state meet in Minneapolis, the defending champions in class A are the St. Thomas Academy Cadets of Mendota Heights. They have been the consecutive champs for the past three years and will compete in every event except for 1-meter diving, according to the Minnesota High School League’ website.

Wayzata is the defending champ in class AA.