Boys Swimming and Diving: Seniors led Park Rapids to another successful season

Isaac Zinniel was named the Panthers' MVP after placing in three events, including a runner-up finish in the 50-yard freestyle, at the 2023 state Class A meet.

By Vance Carlson

April 23, 2023 at 9:22 AM

Placing in five events and breaking two school records at the state Class A meet capped off another successful season for the Park Rapids boys swimming and diving team.

Seniors Isaac Zinniel, Jordan Odor, Matt Lichter, Cameron Runyan and Pierce DeBlieck combined to qualify for state in six events. Zinniel earned all-state honors with a runner-up finish in the 50-yard freestyle and placed 11th in the 100 butterfly while Odor placed ninth in diving and 12th in the 200 freestyle. Odor, Runyan, Lichter and Zinniel finished 14th in the 200 freestyle relay. The 200 medley relay team of Odor, DeBlieck, Zinniel and Runyan took 18th. Those efforts gave the Panthers 43 points to finish 16th in the team standings.

Zinniel broke Spencer Fritze’s 2019 school record of 22.04 in the 50 freestyle with a 21.26 while Odor broke Marcus Benson’s 2020 school record of 1:48.31 in the 200 freestyle with a 1:48.21 at the state meet.

“We had a lights out state meet. They performed incredibly well,” said Park Rapids head coach Megan Rykhus. “The last day of state was filled with many emotions as their last season as a Panther came to an end, but they left incredibly proud that it ended on Day 2 of the state meet with a top-16 team finish.”

During the regular season, the Panthers went 9-2 in dual meets. After opening the season with a 1110-69 win over Bemidji and losses to Fergus Falls (102-82) and Melrose/Sauk Centre (100-71), Park Rapids won the next eight duals by defeating Detroit Lakes (115-54), Thief River Falls (105-70), Perham/New York Mills (114-42 and 181-76), Detroit Lakes (168-113), Thief River Falls (90-75), Bemidji (98-80) and Thief River Falls (107.50-62.50).

Park Rapids took fourth at the Section 5A True Team meet with 715 points as Alexandria took first with 1,226 points and won the four-team Last Chance Invitational with 665 points. Eight winning efforts helped the Panthers repeat as Mid-State Conference champs with 492 points.

Zinniel won the 50 freestyle and finished second in the 100 breaststroke while Odor (200 freestyle) and the 200 freestyle relay unit of Zinniel, Runyan, Odor and freshman Cameron Swanson also took second at the True Team meet.

Jordan Odor capped off his senior season by placing in three events at the 2023 state Class A boys swimming and diving meet.

At the Mid-State meet, Odor (diving, 200 freestyle), Zininel (50 freestyle, 100 butterfly), Lichter (500 freestyle) and DeBlieck (100 breaststroke) clocked individual winning efforts while Odor, Runyan, Zinniel and Lichter won the 200 medley relay and Zinniel, senior Malachi Martin, Runyan and Odor won the 200 freestyle relay to earn all-conference honors. Receiving all-conference honorable mention honors by taking second were Runyan (diving, 100 freestyle), freshman Carter Schiller (200 individual medley) and eighth grader Christian Thorson (500 freestyle) along with Schiller, DeBlieck, senior Nick Graham and Swanson in the 200 medley relay and Swanson, sophomore Leo Kaufenberg, Schiller and Martin in the 400 freestyle relay. Schiller (100 butterfly), Martin (100 freestyle), Kaufenberg (500 freestyle), Lichter (100 backstroke), and the 400 freestyle relay team of junior Dash Martin, Graham, DeBlieck and Lichter placed third.

Led by the five state qualifiers, the Panthers placed fourth at the eight-team Section 5A meet with 259 points as Alexandria won the title with 490.50 points. Zinniel won section titles in the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly while Odor was the runner-up in diving and the 200 freestyle. The 200 medley relay finished third while the 200 freestyle relay finished second. Odor was named the Section 5A Diver of the Year while Zinniel was named the Section 5A Swimmer of the Year.

Also placing for the Panthers at the section meet were Runyan (fifth in diving, sixth in the 100 freestyle), Schiller (sixth in the 100 backstroke, ninth in the 100 butterfly), DeBlieck (seventh in the 100 breaststroke), Lichter (10th in the 200 individual medley, 11th in the 500 freestyle), Kaufenberg (14th in both the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle), Graham (14th in the 200 individual medley), Swanson (11th in the 100 backstroke, 15th in the 100 freestyle), Dash Martin (16th in the 50 freestyle) and Thorson (16th in the 500 freestyle). Lichter, Dash Martin, Swanson and Schiller placed sixth in the 400 freestyle relay.

Also competing on varsity this season were senior Danny Hoyt, freshman Gabriel Hoogakker, and seventh graders Kaleb Martin, Austin Miller and Jack Sperle.

“I am extremely proud of the season we had this year,” said Rykhus. “The guys stepped up into new roles. They swam around in different events this season and raced them well. They came ready to work each practice, whether we were in the weight room or the pool.”

Receiving team awards were Zinniel (MVP), Lichter (Hardest Worker), DeBlieck (Most Improved) and Thorson (Most Spirited).

Zinniel led the team with 297.50 points and moved into the all-time top 10 in the 100 butterfly (second), 100 freestyle (seventh) and 200 freestyle (10th) in addition to claiming the school record in the 50 freestyle.

Odor was second with 278 points, breaking the school record in the 200 freestyle while moving into the top 10 in the 200 individual medley (10th) and in diving (third for 11 dives and 10th for six dives).

Cameron Runyan concluded his senior season by placing fifth in diving at the 2023 Section 5A meet. Runyan qualified for state as a member of the Panthers' 200-yard freestyle relay team.

Runyan scored 235.50 points this season and climbed into the top 10 in diving (sixth for 11 dives).

Also scoring at least 100 points were Lichter (191), Schiller (190), DeBlieck (165.50), Swanson (143), Kaufenberg (138.50), Dash Martin (130.50), Graham (118.50), Malachi Martin (102.50) and Thorson (100.50). The other point producers were Sperle (80), Miller (56), Hoogakker (53), Hoyt (45.50) and Kaleb Martin (23.50).

Replacing the contributions and the leadership of the eight seniors will be tough, but Rykhus sees a promising future for the Panthers.

“Our seniors were incredibly involved in the team and helping our younger athletes learn the ropes. Many of the seniors I have been blessed to watch grow from seventh graders to our senior leaders. Throughout our program they swam new events, stepped up into different roles and helped to keep a positive vibe during practices. They will be missed,” said Rykhus. “We have an eager group of swimmers ready to return next season. We will have a team that is heavy with 10th through 8th graders that will be learning how to step up and into different roles. They have put in a lot of time with our seniors and have their own goals set for next season. We look forward to seeing what they are capable of next season. I look forward to big things from them.”

Park Rapids statistics

Points: Zinniel 297.50, Odor 278, Runyan 235.50, Lichter 191, Schiller 190, DeBlieck 165.50, Swanson 143, Kaufenberg 138.50, D. Martin 130.50, Graham 118.50, M. Martin 102.50, Thorson 100.50, Sperle 80, Miller 56, Hoogakker 53, Hoyt 45.50, K. Martin 23.50.

50 freestyle: 1, Zinniel 21.26. 2, Odor 22.91. 3, Runyan 25.13. 4, M. Martin 25.15. 5, Swanson 25.77. 6, D. Martin 25.93. 7, Lichter 27.01. 8, Schiller 27.23. 9, Kaufenberg 28.02. 10, DeBlieck 28.76. 11, Graham 30.06. 12, Hoogakker 30.22. 13, Miller 31.79. 14, Thorson 31.80. 15, Sperle 32.79. 16, Hoyt 33.54. 17, K. Martin 37.22.

100 freestyle: 1, Zinniel 50.27. 2, Runyan 52.00. 3, Odor 52.14. 4, Swanson 56.83. 5, M. Martin 57.19. 6, D. Martin 57.52. 7, Schiller 58.89. 8, Lichter 59.59. 9, Kaufenberg 1:01.81. 10, Graham 1:06.28. 11, DeBlieck 1:06.71. 12, Hoogakker 1:09.77. 13, Thorson 1:09.86. 14, Miller 1:12.48. 15, Sperle 1:14.78. 16, Hoyt 1:16.54. 17, K. Martin 1:31.91.

200 freestyle: 1, Odor 1:48.21. 2, Zinniel 1:57.61. 3, Kaufenberg 2:09.90. 4, M. Martin 2:12.36. 5, Schiller 2:12.39. 6, Runyan 2:13.67. 7, D. Martin 2:18.89. 8, Thorson 2:20.29. 9, Lichter 2:21.76. 10, Graham 2:28.46. 11, Sperle 2:35.18. 12, Swanson 2:39.37. 13, Hoogakker 2:51.94. 14, DeBlieck 3:03.58. 15, K. Martin 3:15.89.

500 freestyle: 1, Odor 5:27.75. 2, Zininel 5:32.04. 3, Lichter 5:46.58. 4, Runyan 5:55.45. 5, Kaufenberg 6:03.31. 6, Schiller 6:06.26. 7, M. Martin 6:17.15. 8, Thorson 6:20.40. 9, Hoogakker 6:55.96. 10, Graham 7:07.64. 11, DeBlieck 8:01.88. 12, K. Martin 9:03.27.

100 backstroke: 1, Odor 57.72. 2, Schiller 1:02.49. 3, Runyan 1:06.61. 4, Swanson 1:08.52. 5, Lichter 1:08.81. 6, D. Martin 1:16.50. 7, Kaufenberg 1:18.23. 8, Graham 1:21.54. 9, Hoogakker 1:22.23. 10, Thorson 1:23.44. 11, Miller 1:26.44. 12, Sperle 1:31.19. 13, DeBlieck 1:40.85. 14, K. Martin 1:54.95.

100 breaststroke: 1, Zinniel 1:06.77. 2, DeBlieck 1:08.72. 3, Odor 1:13.66. 4, Schiller 1:17.06. 5, Runyan 1:20.51. 6, Lichter 1:21.70. 7, Graham 1:22.62. 8, Sperle 1:35.66. 9, Thorson 1:38.62.

100 butterfly: 1, Zinniel 52.24. 2, Schiller 1:06.88. 3, Runyan 1:07.23. 4, M. Martin 1:09.75. 5, Kaufenberg 1:13.61. 6, Lichter 1:17.09. 7, D. Martin 1:25.73. 8, Thorson 1:27.24. 9, Graham 1:27.48. 10, Hoyt 1:46.93.

200 individual medley: 1, Zinniel 2:12.14. 2, Odor 2:12.65. 3, Runyan 2:23.25. 4, Lichter 2:26.32. 5, Schiller 2:28.08. 6, Graham 2:37.99. 7, D. Martin 2:47.22. 8, DeBlieck 2:47.84. 9, Thorson 2:58.66. 10, Sperle 3:18.96. 11, Hoyt 3:45.09.