For the second time in as many years, the River Falls High School boys’ swim and dive team is sending at least five student-athletes to the Swimming and Diving Championships in Waukesha.

River Falls competed in the Division 1 Sectional at Hudson Middle School on Saturday, Feb. 11, and had four swimmers and one diver either win their respective event or finish as one of the 24 best sectional scores in the state, which secured a spot in the state championships the following weekend.

The Wildcats’ state qualifiers include seniors Taylor Matter and Cooper Cemohous, juniors Alton Lesneski and Nolan Tody, and sophomore Daniel Cams. Their state-caliber results helped River Falls secure a fifth-place finish as a team with a total score of 248 points at the Hudson sectional.

See RF SWIM, Page B-9 “Our team did really well yesterday,” River Falls head coach Caitlin Brudzinski said. “We had season-best performances in 16 of 18 individual entries and two of our three relays as well. From where our athletes were seeded, we had a good number improve their placement which contributed to the team scoring well. I knew we would be in that range, and anticipated fourth or fifth based on the teams.”

The aforementioned Matter paced the Wildcats on Saturday afternoon, as the senior swimmer won the 200-yard IM and broke River Falls’ school record in the process. Matter later secured a second-place finish in the 100-yard Butterfly, which punched another ticket to state.

Matter’s third and final state qualification came in the 200-yard Freestyle Relay, along with teammates Lesneski, Cernohous and Carns. Coach Brudzinski spoke about Matter’s excellent performance at the sectional meet.

“Taylor did have a really great day,” Brudzinski said. “After seeing that he was seeded second in the IM, I knew that he would be pushing to win it, and breaking the school record at the same time was a great bonus. His (Butterfly) looked good. I know he was hoping to win that one as well, but rebreaking the record he set last year is a good start as we head into state.”

The aforementioned Carns not only qualified as part of the 200-yard Freestyle Relay, but he also made it to state in both the 50 and 100yard Freestyle events. While Carns unquestionably had a great day, as he qualified for three of the four events he competed in, Brudzinski stated that he has even higher aspirations for state.

“Daniel had a nice day, although I know he thinks he can go faster,” Brudzinski said. “I agree and it’ll be fun to see how state goes this Saturday. He improved from where he was seeded in both events and had season-best times which qualified him. I know he’s shooting for the school records in both events on Saturday.”

River Falls’ lone diver that qualified for state is the aforementioned Tody, whose score of 341.75 in the finals earned him a seventh-place finish and a spot in the state championships at Waukesha on Saturday, Feb. 18.

While River Falls celebrated the success of the four swimmers and one diver that qualified for state, it also mourned the defeats of several Wildcats who narrowly missed qualification. Individually, River Falls senior Preston Conrad made a late push to qualify for state but ultimately came up short.

Conrad’s time of 1:03.33 in the 100-yard Butterfly shaved approximately three seconds off his seeding time and earned him a 12th-place finish, just outside of the qualification range for state. Coach Brudzinski spoke about Conrad dropping time and his overall sectional performance.

“Preston (Conrad) had a really great swim in the 100 Butterfly as well,” Brudzinski said. “He improved his placement by two spots and dropped three seconds after working through a minor injury last week. In general, after working through taper the goal is to have 100% season-best, if not personal best swims and we were really close to that. Even the athletes who didn’t have personal bests weren’t far off.”

The Wildcats’ 200-yard Medley Relay was their final event that had an outside chance of qualifying for the state championships. That relay featured veteran River Falls swimmers including Matter, Lesneski, Carns and junior Kai Hagen.

Their relay earned a 28thplace finish in the statewide sectional with a time of 1:42.17, which missed qualification by just four places. Coach Brudzinski spoke about the Medley Relay and narrowly missing qualification.

“Our Medley relay was the only other spot where we thought we might have a chance,” Brudzinski said. “When the psych sheets came out last Tuesday, that relay was seeded 30th. We knew they were going to have to drop some time, which they did, and hope that some other relays didn’t. Unfortunately, we didn’t quite get there. They improved their placement though, ending up 28th in the state so it was a good performance.”

River Falls’ five qualifiers will compete in the Swim and Dive Championships in Waukesha on Saturday, Feb. 18. Diving finals begin at 9:30 a.m. and swimming is scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m. at the Waukesha South High School Natatorium.

Junior Alton Lesneski of the River Falls boys’ swim and dive team competes in his leg of the 200-yard IM at Hudson on Saturday afternoon. Photo by Reagan Hoverman

River Falls senior Taylor Matter stands atop the podium with his first-place medal after winning the 200-yard IM and breaking River Falls’ school record in the process. Photo by Reagan Hoverman