Edgewood jump out to an early lead in the team competition and cruised to the Division 2 title at the 2014 State Boys Swimming & Diving Championships at the UW Natatorium in Madison Friday.
The Crusaders compiled 294 points to win their first State team championship. Six-time champion McFarland finished a distant second with 242 points, and Monona Grove was third with 224 points.
Senor Zack Parkin was a champion in four events to lead the Crusaders. He won the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 20.92. He entered the meet with the fastest time in the event after placing sixth last season.
Parkin also contributed to the Crusaders’ victories in all three relays. In the 200 medley relay, he teamed with senior Payton teDuits, junior Austin Darien and freshman Phillip Fochios to post a winning time of 1:36.89. He joined senior Jack McLaughlin and juniors Joey Basch and Jacob Lynn to win the 200 freestyle relay with time of 1:26.29. In addition, McLaughlin, teDuit, Lynn and Parkin won the 400 freestyle relay with a time of 3:11.95
Junior Joe Kaszubowski of Whitefish Bay found himself in a familiar place on top of the awards podium after capturing his third straight Division 2 one-meter diving championship.
He scored a 551.95 in the event, well ahead of freshman Henry Carman of Monona Grove, who finished second with a score of 384.55. His performance is the best in Division 2 since Ryan Jefferson of Edgewood won his fourth straight championship with a record score of 582.80 in 2006. Kaszubowski’s mark ranks second-best in Division 2 history, dating back to 1993.
Junior Kevin Van Cleve of Brookfield Academy was a two-time winner in the meet. He improved on his third-place finish a year ago to win the crown in the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:53.98. He entered the meet as the top returning swimmer with the best qualifying time. The defending champion in the 500 freestyle, he and junior Nick Potter of DeForest were declared co-champions in the event with both clocking in with a time of 4:39.82.
Junior Zach Soper of Shawano also won a pair of events. He won the 100 butterfly with the time of 52.24, out-pacing sophomore Michael Perry from Shorewood, who placed runner-up for the second consecutive season. Soper also raced the title in the 100 backstroke with a time of 50.79 after finishing runner-up in the event last year.
Senior Andrew Sacket of Monona Grove swam to the title in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:43.36, more than a second quicker than senior Kirill Korolev of Shorewood, who was the defending champion in the event.
Last year’s runner-up in the 100 freestyle is this year’s champion. Senior Jan Hansen of Beaver Dam finished in a time of 46.12, almost a minute faster than his qualifying time that led the field entering the meet.
In the 100 breaststroke, Tony Donagan improved on the third-place finish last season to win the event in a time of 59.27.
The 90th annual State Boys Swimming and Diving Championships resume Saturday with Division 1 action. The diving competition begins at 10 a.m. with swimming events to commence at 3 p.m.