Blake/Breck swimming team
enjoys banner season in '07-08
By John Sherman
Sun Newspapers
March 19, 2008
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The 2007-08 season was a banner year for the Blake/Breck cooperative swimming team.
With participants from both Minneapolis area private schools, the team finished fifth at the state Class A meet. The Blake/Breck squad had 152 state-meet points. St. Thomas Academy won the team title with 247.
The Blake/Breck postseason started with a victory in the Section 2A meet.
The cooperative squad had 423.5 points to win a close race with Spring Lake Park, which scored 400.5.
Blake/Breck won the 200-yard medley relay at sectionals with Sam Pritzker, John Piirainen, Nathan Yueh and Mack Markusen swimming a time of 1 minute, 42.86 seconds.
Yueh came back to win the 200-yard freestyle, and then Piirainen won the 200-yard individual medley.
Max Markusen, who had surgery to repair an ankle injury earlier in the season, finished third in the 50-yard freestyle for Blake/Breck.
Blake/Breck's only diver, John Blake, took eighth in section competition.
Spring Lake Park took three of the top four places in diving.
"It was good to be able to counter some of Spring Lake Park's points [with John Blake]," said Blake/Breck diving coach John Pearson.
Pritzker placed second in the 100-yard butterfly and teammate Thomas Winslow was sixth.
The 500-yard freestyle was an important race in Blake/Breck's section title quest. Yueh won his second individual title of the meet with a time of 4:59.79.
In the 200 free relay, the cooperative squad took first with Piirainen, Paul Koullick, Jack Markusen and Max Markusen.
Piirainen won his second section gold medal in the 100-yard breaststroke.
To win the section team title, Blake/Breck needed a strong showing in the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay. They got it as Yueh, Max Markusen, Koullick and Austin Gromatzky placed fourth with a state-meet-qualifying time of 3:25.75.
In the state Class A meet at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center, Blake/Breck swimmers won a gold medal and two silvers.
Yueh, a sophomore from Breck, won the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:51.45 and took second place in the 200-yard freestyle.
Piirainen was second in the 200-yard individual medley and placed fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke.
Blake/Breck's best relay performance was a fourth place in the 200-yard medley relay with Pritzker, Piirainen, Yueh and Jack Markusen.
Reprinted with permission Sun Newspapers
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