The Westonka boys swim team started off the week with a dual meet versus Benilde-St. Margaret’s. Top swimmers for this meet were junior captain Bryce Helms with first place in the 200-yard IM with a time of 2:18:08, ninth grader Sean Dolder with first place in the 100-yard breast at 1:15:55, ninth grader Eren Alemdar with first place in the 100 back with a time 1:09:52, and ninth grader Wyatt Helms with first place in the 500 yard freestyle with a time of 6:31:40. Seventh grader Brody Helms took second place in the 500-yard freestyle and seventh grader Connor Shaw took second in the 200-yard freestyle and third in 100 Free. Due to MSHSL co-op rules, Westonka is relegated to swim JV at Metro West conference meets. These placements reflect that.

The boys were back in the pool Jan. 14, swimming in the True Team Section meet held at Bloomington Kennedy. The team finished in seventh place with a total of 296 points with only six swimmers competing. The team was led by Bryce Helms with 56 individual points, placing fifth in both the 50 Free and 100 Free with a personal best time. He was followed by Dolder with 49 individual points, placing eighth in the 500 Free and the ninth in the 200 Free with personal best times in both races.

Alemdar scored the team 23 individual points, placing 21st in the 200 IM and 22nd in the 100 Fly with personal best times in both races. Brody Helms scored the team 22 individual points, placing 20th in the 200 Free and 24th in 100 Back. Next up was Shaw, scoring 20 individual points and placing 21st in the 200 Free and 25th in 100 Back. Rounding out the field was Wyatt Helms with 14 individual points, placing 25th in the 50 Free and 27th in the 100 Free.

The team also competed in three relays. First up was the 200-yard medley relay led off by Wyatt Helms and followed by Dolder, Brody Helms and Shaw, taking 18th place and scoring the team 30 points. Next up was the 200 Free relay led off by Bryce Helms and followed by Alemdar, Brody Helms and Shaw, placing 15th earning 36 points for the team.

Last up was the main event, the 400 Free relay, led off by Wyatt Helms and followed by Dolder, Bryce Helms and Alemdar. In an extremely competitive field against 21 other relay teams, the boys placed 10th overall with a best time of 3:56:38 dropping over 12 seconds and earning the team 46 points.

We want to congratulate our fellow teammates, the Orono Spartans boys swim and dive team, for placing second and earning a spot at True Team finals! Next up for the OWM team is a dual meet at Bloomington Jefferson on Thursday, Jan. 19 at 6 p.m. Go White Hawks!