Edina wouldn’t have won without its divers.

“Points-wise, we scored 48 points just in that event alone,” Edina coach Scott Johnson said. “It’s almost like having your own private relay and no one else is in it.”

Edina’s trio of divers finished second, third and fourth in grabbing those 48 points for the team score. The Hornets took the team lead from there and went on to win their third consecutive Class 2A boys state swimming and diving championship Saturday, Feb. 28, at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center at the University of Minnesota.

Edina won the meet with 340 points, followed by Minnetonka’s 312. Wayzata (184), Rochester Century (182) and St. Cloud Crush (134) rounded out the top five. Take away those points from the diving event and the Hornets could have finished with 292 points, 20 behind Lake Conference rival Minnetonka.

“They scored more swimming points than we did, if you just took the swimming points,” Johnson said. “So, I don’t want to take that away from them. They did a very good job, and we force each other to swim up and dive up.

“Without each other, we don’t exist the way that we do.”

As it has done in the past, Edina won the meet relying on points and depth rather than winning individual events. Edina’s only individual-event champion came in the 100-yard backstroke, in which the event’s top returner, senior Patrick Curran, finished in 47.97 seconds.

Sophomore Edward Frey — who took second place in diving, followed by Hornets teammates Niko Yannopoulos and Kingston Kavati — said he was happy to see the work of his fellow divers and teammates pay off for Edina’s 17th championship as a program.

“It’s been really cool, and especially seeing diving making such an impact to winning the championship,” Frey said. “It feels really good knowing that we’re really playing a role this year.

“I think this year it really made a difference, all the diving points. It’s been awesome to see.”

Lor wins diving title, three points shy of 2A record

Champlin Park freshman Pengxu Lor won the diving title with a score of 536.30, only about three points off the Class 2A record of 539.60 set by Lucas Gerten in 2024. Even in the preliminaries, Lor knew he would be close to the record.

“Then my friend Gideon [Fish] beat it this morning [in Class 1A],” Lor said. “I was like: ‘I need to pivot. I need to do it.’ But I kind of fell under pressure a little bit.

“Three points shy of the double-A record, but overall [I did] really well. … It gives me a lot of motivation, knowing I was really close and knowing I can go for that all-time state record.”

Lor still blew his third-place finish of 405.10 from last year’s state meet out of the water. He took third as a member of Maple Grove’s team.

Lor also had a personal best to win his section meet this season with a section-meet record of 609.70.

“I did do harder dives this year than last year,” Lor said. “But I think it was just because I got stronger and just worked on mainly getting stronger and being able to do the dives easier.”

Almost record-breaking swims

Micah Davis, a St. Cloud Crush senior committed to swim at the University of Virginia, won his seventh and eighth state championships in swimming events Saturday, but he was oh-so-close to breaking records.

“Time-wise, it wasn’t where I wanted to be,” Davis said. “But to go out with a team that I have right now, and the boys that I have around me, it’s been a long journey, and I’ve enjoyed every second of it, so I’m happy to end it any way possible.”

Davis won the 200 individual medley in 1:46.22, just a touch slower than the 1:46.14 Class 2A and state record set last year by Jackson Kogler of Stillwater. Later in the meet, Davis won the 100 butterfly for the fourth year in a row while also coming close to the state record — his own, a 46.94 he swam in 2024. Davis swam a 47.01 on Saturday night.

“I was shooting for 45 [seconds],” Davis said. “That was my goal. I was 46.1 at junior nationals, and we trained a lot of sprints for this to try and get down under 46. I just didn’t hit my walls right. It wasn’t the right race.”

Davis also swam on the sixth-place 200 medley relay and the second-place 400 freestyle relay to end the night.

Duluth East senior Joey Zelen dropped more than a second off his preliminary time in the 100 freestyle, winning the title with a 43.78 (45.06 prelims). Zelen was also just shy of the Class 2A and state record in the event, a 43.46 set by Peter Larson of Edina in 2019. Zelen also finished second in the 50 freestyle (20.48) to Mounds View senior Danny Bai (20.30). Zelen set the Class 2A record in the preliminaries with a 19.80.

Zelen swam the first leg of Duluth East’s winning 200 freestyle relay (1:23.99).

Joyner breaks record in 200 freestyle

Kai Joyner, a sophomore from Rochester Mayo, broke the state record in the 200 freestyle with a 1:35.03. The previous record was 1:35.39 set by Jack Dahlgren, of Chanhassen, in 2018. As his name was announced when he received his first-place medal on the podium, Joyner raised both of his arms in celebration as fans cheered.

Joyner also won the 500 freestyle (4:20.78), dropping about six seconds from his preliminary time (4:26.81). In back-to-back events, he was the anchor for Mayo’s fifth-place 200 freestyle relay.

• • • • •

Class 1A: It’s No. 17 for St. Thomas Academy

The St. Thomas Academy boys swimming and diving team was composed of a mix of younger athletes who swim year-round, and some seniors who don’t swim year-round. Coach John Barnes wasn’t sure how their chemistry was going to work out this season.

“They became so tight,” Barnes said. “Wednesday night, they went to somebody’s house, ate dinner, and then they watched flippin’ ‘Pitch Perfect’ together.”

Interesting preparation for the state meet. The team met at senior Kayden Greeley’s house for the festivities. No real connection between the movie choice and swimming, though.

“We were all giggling and having fun,” Greeley said. “I don’t know, it was just the movie.”

The fun continued into the weekend as St. Thomas Academy defended its 1A state team championship, sweeping all three relays and winning seven of 12 events at the University of Minnesota. The Cadets led the meet the entire way and finished with 347 points, ahead of Breck/Blake (210), Northfield (180), Sartell-St. Stephen (158) and Orono (151).

It’s the 17th team title for the Cadets, and the first time they have gone back-to-back since winning five in a row from 2012 to ’16.

Their title defense Saturday started with defending their 200 medley relay title (1:31.95).

Cadets senior Luke Mechtel defended two of his individual titles in the 50 freestyle (20.80) and 100 breaststroke (54.98).

“He had eight events over two days,” Barnes said. “Best times, new team records, All-American [times]. But he was just the leader of the team. Emotionally, he just had a huge weekend.”

Greeley took second in the 50 freestyle, improving on his third-place finish in the event last year. Greeley and Mechtel also both swam on the winning 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays. The performance was even more impressive given Greeley wasn’t feeling 100%, working through a bad case of mononucleosis that plagued him throughout the season.

“Still fighting it, but luckily I’ve got my team with me, which has really helped me get through it for sure,” Greeley said. “Because it’s all about bonding with my team.”

Freshman Parker Miller (1:53.10), who was also a bit under the weather, edged Breck/Blake junior Teddy Frerichs (1:53.96) in the 200 individual medley, catching up to him in the breaststroke leg of the event. Frerichs also took second in the 100 butterfly. Miller, in addition to his 200 individual medley victory, swam the first leg of the 200 medley relay and took third in the breaststroke.

Pascal Zeruhn, a Cadets sophomore, won the 500 freestyle (4:40.56) and was on the 200 freestyle relay.

“It felt amazing seeing those guys get some moments to shine, too,” Mechtel said. “Especially the younger guys. We were a really close group this year, so it was amazing to see those guys get some spotlight, too.

“This year, all the older guys and younger guys came together. We spent a lot more time outside of the pool together.”

The Cadets scored points with four swimmers in the 200 freestyle, but Northfield senior Will Redetzke won that event in 1:42.05 ahead of Cadets sophomore Paidon McGuire (1:42.56) and Cadets senior Sam Quinn (1:44.24), who had the fastest time in the preliminaries.

Redetzke also took fourth in the 100 butterfly as Mankato East senior Elliot Bartell defended his title in that event. McGuire took third.

Junior Odin Berg won a second event for Northfield, the 100 freestyle (46.84), nearly two seconds faster than when he finished eighth last year (48.42). Fergus Falls senior Reece Hansen won the 100 backstroke in 52.59 after taking fourth a year ago.

Fish breaks state diving record

Orono’s Gideon Fish set a state record with his Class 1A diving title, scoring 558.25. The previous record was 539.60 set by Rosemount’s Lucas Gerten in 2024, and the Class 1A record was 532.70 from Turner Eckstrom (Red Wing) in 2010.

Fish, who finished third at state last year, knew breaking the record was in play but wasn’t a sure thing. He said he was OK with however the results turned out.

“I was told that [the record] might happen before my last dive, but I needed a certain score,” Fish said. “Maybe I didn’t want to know, but it helped me have confidence in myself and know that that was a possibility and that I could have a new record.”

State meet records from Class 2A and 1A

Minnesota all-time and Class 2A record: 200 freestyle, 1:35.03, Kai Joyner (Rochester Mayo). Previous state record: 1:35.39 in 2018 by Jack Dahlgren.

Minnesota all-time and Class 1A record: 1-meter diving, 558.25 points, Gideon Fish (Orono). Previous state record: 539.60 in 2024 by Lucas Gerten.