Richfield Boys Swim Team Takes 7th at State

Editor's Note: The following was submitted by Marc Hamren, Richfield High School boys swimming coach.

The Richfield Spartans raced to a 7th place team finish at the State swimming championships today, setting three new varsity records in the process.  

Andy Petersen, (12th) was the first to re-write the Spartan record board.  In the 200 yard Individual Medley, he was second in state with a time of 1:55.68, breaking Richfield's varsity IM record of 1:56.00, set in 2003 by Andy French.   

Then it was Andy's classmate, Duncan Pederson's turn.  Duncan Pederson, (12th) became the fastest 100 freestyler in the history of Richfield swimming, going 46.92 to take second in state, and eclipsing Chad Tellinghuisen's record of 47.11 which was set in 1993.  

The 100 yard freestyle proved a strong event for Richfield.  The Spartans scored more 100 yard freestyle points than any other team, with Andy finishing 5th in a new life-best time of 47.76, and Senior, Mohab Eid taking 11th place in 48.31.  

At the end of the meet, Andy and Duncan teamed with Mohab Eid, (12th)  and Ryder Klopp (12th) in the 400 yard freestyle relay to place fourth at state and to take down one of the oldest records on the Spartan record board.  The Spartan 400 free relay record of 3:14.82 was set 29 years ago by the quartet of Bruce Nielsen, Aaron Hanson, Todd Duncan and Jeff Lee in 1984.  But today, Andy, Duncan, Ryder and Mohab went 3:14.01 in 400 relay.  Ryder, swimming the relay's third leg, was particularly impressive, garnering his new, life-best time.   And Mohab was called upon to anchor this relay against the very best swimmers in the state.

In addition to these record-setting events, the 200 yard freestyle was a strong event for the Spartans.  Duncan went 1:44.14 to take 4th place and Mohab went 1:45.20 to finish 6th.  The top ten teams at today's single-A state swim meet:  

1. St. Thomas Academy, 263;

2. Monticello, 190.5;

3. Breck/Blake, 177;  

4. Faribault, 131;

5. Sartell St. Stephen, 130;

6. Fergus Falls, 11;

7. Richfield, 111.5;

8. Hutchinson, 105;

9. Simley, Inver Grove Heights, 93;

10. Dassel-Cokato/Litchfield, 91.