Andrew Karpenko Shines as Breck Blake Wins Third-Straight Minnesota Boys Class A State Title

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Photo Courtesy: Breck Athletics Twitter (@BreckAthletics)

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The 2019 Minnesota Boys Class A State Swimming and Diving Championships took place on March 2 at the University of Minnesota’s Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center in Minneapolis, Minn.

Minnehaha Academy’s Andrew Karpenko highlighted the meet by setting a new Class A record in the 200 IM and a new Class A and Minnesota All-Time record in the 100 breast. Breck Blake’s Anderson Breazeale set a new Class A mark in the 100 back, as did his 4×50 medley relay.

After winning six of the 12 events, Breck Black dominated the meet to secure their third-consecutive team title with 423 points. They were well ahead of runner-up Northfield (188) and third-place finisher Winona (177).

Click HERE for full results.

Top 5 Team Scores:

  1. Breck Blake – 423
  2. Northfield – 188
  3. Winona – 177
  4. St. Thomas Academy – 162
  5. Alexandria – 149

The meet began as Breck Blake’s Breck Blake’s Anderson Breazeale (22.77), James Pan (26.02), Spencer Pruett (21.83) and Dylan Brown (20.64) won the opening 4×50 medley relay in 1:31.26, crushing their own Class A record of 1:32.43 set during prelims. Sartell St. Stephen was a distant second in 1:36.68 and Northfield was third in 1:37.51.

Shortly after helping his medley relay win gold, Pruett was back in the water to cruise to first in the 200 free with a final time of 1:42.40. Breck Blake’s Thayer Breazeale was second in 1:43.15 while his teammate, Niels Wu, took a close third in 1:43.15.

Karpenko won the 200 IM in record-setting fashion, stopping the clock in 1:48.05 for the win to best the 1:49.02 he set during prelims for a new Class A state record. Breck Blake’s James Pan (1:51.29) and Winona’s Grant Wolner (1:51.83) finished second and third, respectively.

Winona’s Jack Herczeg splashed-and-dashed his way to a win in the 50 free, touching the wall in a quick 21.02. Right behind him was A. Breazeale in 21.07 to secure the runner-up spot and Breck Blake’s Dylan Brown raced to third in 21.27.

Park Rapids’ Spencer Fritze dove to first on the 1-meter board, finishing with a final score of 395.10 for the win. Sauk rapids-Rice’s Elijah Grabinski took second with 381.75 points while Simley’s Garrett Kaiser finished third with a total score of 375.75.

After taking third in the 200 IM, Wolner redeemed himself by taking the top spot in the 100 fly with a time of 50.44. St. Thomas Academy’s Toby Sullivan flew to second in 51.12 while T. Breazeale finished third in 51.67.

Herczeg proved his sprint talent by adding the 100 free to his hardware collection after earning gold in the 50 free, racing to the wall in 45.38 for the win. 45.47 was fast enough for Brown to claim the silver medal and Northfield’s Andrew Becker grabbed bronze in 46.86.

Bronze medalist Wu earned his gold in the 500, posting a two-second victory with a final time of 4:43.31 for the win. Benilde St. Margaret’s Matt McGonigle swam to second in 4:45.50 while Pruett was right behind him in 4:45.64 for third.

Breck Blake’s Pan (22.15), Charle Crosby (21.03), T. Breazeale (21.60) and Luke Hamlin (21.15) combined to win the 4×50 free relay in 1:25.93, a half-second ahead of runner-up Winona (1:26.41) and Alexandria (1:26.77).

A. Breazeale powered home to a win in the back in 49.05 as the only swimmer under the 50-second barrier, slightly off the 48.57 he swam during prelims for a new Class A mark. Crosby was second in 50.94 and Park Rapids’ Marcus Benson was third in 51.52.

Karpenko won his second gold of the night in the 100 breast, touching the wall in 54.41 during finals to eclipse the Class A and Minnesota All-Time record of 54.49 he set during prelims. Austin’s Logan Kelly (56.09) and Pan (56.75) rounded out the top three finishers.

Breck Blake secured their team title and completed the relay sweep as the 4×100 free relay squad of Brown (46.59), A. Breazeale (45.85), T. Breazeale (47.17) and Pruett (46.95) won in 3:06.46. Winona was second in 3:09.86 and third place went to Alexandria in 3:12.99.

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