Breaking the conference record in the 200-yard medley relay set the tone as the Park Rapids boys swimming and diving team repeated as Mid-State Conference champions Friday night at Detroit Lakes.
Park Rapids clocked nine winning times and added six runner-up showings in compiling 507 points. Detroit Lakes was second with 464 points while Perham took third with 185 points.
"Detroit Lakes swam well, but we swam better," said Park Rapids head coach Todd Fritze. "I'm proud of the guys. They raced really well."
The Panthers started the meet by scoring 35 points in diving behind Spencer Fritze's runner-up 460.20 points and Seth Breitweser's 349.95 points for third place. Detroit Lakes' Zane Freeman broke his own conference record of 446.45 points with 467.75 points while Fritze also topped the previous conference record and broke his own school record of 454.30 points set earlier this season.
A 1-2 showing in the 200 medley relay gave Park Rapids 58 points as Casimir Simonson, Fritze, Zach Behrens and Matthew Benson clocked a 1:44.82 to break the conference record of 1:46.42 set by Detroit Lakes in 2012. Thomas Williams, Kaleb Carlson, Zach Fritze and Breitweser followed in 1:53.15.
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Park Rapids scored 42 points in the 200 freestyle with Matthew Benson leading the way in 1:59.41 and Marcus Benson taking third in 2:03.60.
Behrens (in 2:13.23) and Simonson (in 2:17.28) went 1-2 in the 200 individual medley as the Panthers scored 46 points in that event.
A 1-2-3 showing in the 50 freestyle followed as Spencer Fritze's 23.50, Zach Fritze's 24.37 and Sam Eystad's 24.51 provided 45 points.
Behrens won the 100 butterfly in 57.61 and Zach Fritze was third in 1:05.56 as the Panthers added 39 points in that event.
Eystad took third in the 100 freestyle in 55.57 to help the Panthers score 33 points before Matthew Benson's winning time of 5:22.78 and Williams' third-place 5:47.30 added 41 points in the 500 freestyle.
Spencer Fritze, Behrens, Eystad and Matthew Benson won the 200 freestyle relay in 1:37.67 and Tim Walsh, Breitweser, Dan Walsh and Jack Bateman took third in 1:43.70 as the Panthers scored 56 points in that event.
Park Rapids went 1-2-3 in the 100 backstroke as Simonson's 58.73, Marcus Benson's 59.36 and Williams' 1:03.11 added 51 points to the team score.
After Carlson won the 100 breaststroke in 1:08.02 to help add 35 points, Simonson, Eystad, Bateman and Marcus Benson scored 26 points with a runner-up 3:40.99 in the 400 freestyle relay.
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The first-place finishers received all-conference honors while those placing second and third received all-conference honorable mention honors.
Park Rapids will prepare for the Section 5A meet Feb. 24-25 at Bemidji.
"Going 1-2 in the medley was a good way to start and going 1-2 in the 200 IM, 1-2-3 in the 50 free and 1-2-3 in the 100 back was awesome," said Fritze. "The guys are swimming really well right now. I'm excited to see what we can do (at the section meet)."
Team scores: Park Rapids 507, Detroit Lakes 464, Perham 185.
Individual results
Diving: 1, Freeman, DL, 467.65 points (new conference record; old record: 446.45 by Freeman in 2015). 2, S. Fritze, PR, 460.20. 3, Breitweser, PR, 349.95. 5, Christenson, PR, 299.60.
200 medley relay: 1, Park Rapids (Simonson, S. Fritze, Behrens, Mat. Benson), 1:44.82 (new conference record; old record: 1:46.42 by Detroit Lakes in 2012. 2, Park Rapids (Williams, Carlson, Z. Fritze, Breitweser), 1:53.15. 3, Detroit Lakes, 1:53.63.
200 freestyle: 1, Mat. Benson, PR, 1:59.41. 2, Strawsell, DL, 2:00.53. 3, Mar. Benson, PR, 2:03.60. 6, Bateman, PR, 2:06.19. 8, J. Walsh, PR, 2:12.78.
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200 individual medley: 1, Behrens, PR, 2:13.23. 2, Simonson, PR, 2:17.28. 3, Kitzmann, DL, 2:23.92. 5, Huot, PR, 2:31.70. 7, Carlson, PR, 2:35.75.
50 freestyle: 1, S. Fritze, PR, 23.50. 2, Z. Fritze, PR, 24.37. 3, Eystad, PR, 24.51. 9, Wattenhofer, PR, 36.93.
100 butterfly: 1, Behrens, PR, 57.61. 2, Lindsey, DL, 1:02.25. 3, Z. Fritze, PR, 1:05.56. 4, Huot, PR, 1:05.86.
100 freestyle: 1, Bellefeuille, DL, 53.97. 2, Parzyck, DL, 54.57. 3, Eystad, PR, 55.57. 5, Bateman, PR, 56.18. 7, T. Walsh, PR, 59.78. 9, D. Walsh, PR, 1:02.08.
500 freestyle: 1, Mat. Benson, PR, 5:22.78. 2, Strawsell, DL, 5:22.90. 3, Williams, PR, 5:47.30. 6, J. Walsh, PR, 6:20.40. 9, Backmann, PR, 6:52.85.
200 freestyle relay: 1, Park Rapids (S. Fritze, Behrens, Eystad, Mat. Benson), 1:37.67. 2, Detroit Lakes, 1:39.45. 3, Park Rapids (T. Walsh, Breitweser, D. Walsh, Bateman), 1:43.70.
100 backstroke: 1, Simonson, PR, 58.73. 2, Mar. Benson, PR, 59.36. 3, Williams, PR, 1:03.11. 5, T. Walsh, PR, 1:07.22.
100 breaststroke: 1, Carlson, PR, 1:08.02. 2, Bakken, DL, 1:08.54. 3, Musielewicz, DL, 1:11.55. 4, Breitweser, PR, 1:12.71. 8, Christenson, PR, 1:19.92. 10, D. Walsh, PR, 1:24.60.
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400 freestyle relay: 1, Detroit Lakes, 3:39.09. 2, Park Rapids (Simonson, Eystad, Bateman, Mar. Benson), 3:40.99. 3, Detroit Lakes, 3:55.75.
