Dassel-Cokato/Litchfield senior Taylor LaZarre took third in state in the 1-meter dive Saturday, earning the Chargers their highest finish of the meet.

LaZarre, who is the Chargers’ school and Dassel-Cokato pool record-holder in the 1-meter dive, scored a 425.95 in the event to finish 36.70 points behind Simley’s Nathan Stone, the state champion.

Northfield junior Jack Cuddy took second with a score of 436.90, 10.95 points ahead of LaZarre.

LaZarre gave credit to his diving coach Beth Keskey on keeping him focused and ready for the state tournament.

“Well, when i went into state I was pretty nervous, but what Beth taught me i stuck with and stayed confident and did what i did the whole year,” LaZarre said. “It was very fun and exciting. I was glad to get third.”

D-C/L head coach Travis was impressed with LaZarre’s dominant season – the home-schooled senior, who lives in Cokato, finished first in every meet preceding state – and how much LaZarre grew as the season wore on.

“I saw a confidence grow in him this year that he maybe didn’t show in the past,” Travis said. “Last year, he went into the finals at seventh and fell back to 11th. He was so much more relaxed this year – he dove with confidence.”

LaZarre entered the finals in third and remained in third after his finals performance, demonstrating a consistency that Travis saw all season.

“He dove consistently at state. He didn’t dive spectacularly, but they were very good dives every time he dove,” Travis said. “You knew when he went off the board it was going to be a good dive. … Taylor was just consistent. He dove with a confidence this year and a consistency this year.”

A new set of record-holders

LaZarre was the only Charger or relay team to make the podium, but D-C/L earned spots in the consolation heats of the 200 medley relay, the 200 freestyle relay, Spencer Atkinson in the 100 backstroke and Isaac Atkinson in the 100 butterfly. Nolan Warren finished 19th in prelims in the 200-yard individual medley.

The Chargers’ second-best result came in the 200-yard medley relay, where the team of Spencer Atkinson, Warren, Isaac Atkinson and LaZarre swam the event in 1:42.09 to earn an 11th-place finish.

As a team, the Chargers finished in 17th place overall, one spot better than last season, and Travis saw improvements from his swimmers across the board.

“I think overall, especially through sections, the team as a whole did very well. I was very impressed with how the team did,” Travis said. “The group that went to state is very versatile, very hardworking.”

Travis and assistant coach Nathan Youngs saw their swimmers cutting their times in event after event.

Spencer Atkinson’s 100-yard backstroke time was consistently over one minute all year long, for example, but by the end of the year he’d swam the event in 56.9 seconds to break Jason Yerka’s school record from 1996, Travis said. Atkinson swam the 100 backstroke in 57.03 seconds at state.

“That’s a 20-year-old record Spencer broke,” Travis said. “We’ve had backstrokers come close, but Spencer was able to do it.”

LaZarre and Spencer Atkinson were joined in their record-breaking seasons by Isaac Atkinson, who broke Marcel Pfeifer’s 100-yard butterfly record from 2014. Travis had been swimming the 100 fly at around 57 seconds all season long, Travis said, but by state he swam the event in 53.88 seconds.

“You look at Isaac Atkinson – 53.8 in the fly, that’s phenomenal,” Travis said.

In fact, Travis has now seen every single D-C/L boys swimming and diving record fall in his tenure as head coach – a testament to the improvement of the Charger program.

“Since I started coaching in 2000, our team has changed every record now,” Travis said. “There’s not a record older than 2008 on our record board.”

The ability of both this state team and the younger swimmers and divers to compete in multiple events augurs well for the Chargers in the future, Travis said.

“We’re young, and the 7th and 8th grade swimmers showed their versatility right away,” Travis said. “They wanted to try other events and see that they can be versatile and more useful to the team in more events. We’ve just got to keep that going as a team.”

Results

March 5 from University of Minnesota Aquatics Center

State Class A Swim/Dive Championship Finals

Team

1. Saint Thomas Academy, 430; 2. Breck/Blake, 239; 3. Simley, 176; 4. Sartell-St. Stephen, 159; 5. Orono, 154; 6. Austin, 126; 7. Mankato West, 121; 8. Monticello, 116; 9. Fergus Falls, 105; 10. Red Wing, 103; 11. Alexandria, 70; 12. Grand Rapids, 61; 13. Melrose/Sauk Centre, 50; 14. Hutchinson, 48; 15. Winona, 47; 15. Fridley, 47; 17. Dassel-Cokato/Litchfield, 44; 18. Mankato East/Loyola, 39.5; 19. Benilde-St. Margaret’s, 36; 19. Northfield, 36; 21. Faribault, 34; 22. Chisago Lakes Area, 24; 23. Detroit Lakes, 14; 24. Watertown-Mayer/Delano, 11; 24. Sauk Rapids-Rice, 11; 26. Park Rapids, 9; 27. Montvideo, 3; 28. Bemidji, 2.5; 29. Eveleth-Gilbert, 1; 29. Mesabi East, 1.

Individual

200-yard medley relay: 11. Dassel-Cokato/Litchfield ‘A’ (Spencer Atkinson, Nolan Warren, Isaac Atkinson, Taylor LaZarre), 1:42.09

1-meter dive: 3. Taylor LaZarre, D-C/L, 425.95

100-yard butterfly: 12. Isaac Atkinson, D-C/L, 53.88

200-yard freestyle relay: 14. Dassel-Cokato/Litchfield ‘A’ (Taylor LaZarre, Nolan Warren, Brendon Johnson, Isaac Atkinson), 1:31.41

100-yard backstroke: 16. Spencer Atkinson, D-C/L, 57.03