EDWARDSVILLE - Evan Grinter and Cohen Osborn both won two events each as Edwardsville's boys swimming team took 11 of the 12 events in going on to win the Southern Illinois Boys Championships Tuesday evening at the Chuck Fruit Aquatic Center.
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The Tigers won with 323 points, with Belleville Althoff Catholic second at 128 points, Granite City was third with 126 points, Collinsville came in fourth with 87 points, Alton came in fifth with 66 points, Triad was sixth at 34 points and Highland finished seventh with 20 points.
The meet served as a final prep meet for the Tigers going into the IHSA sectional meet a week from Saturday at the CFAC.
"Great meet tonight to cap off the season for some of our athletes," said Edwardsville head coach Christian Rhoten. "We saw some incredible time drops throughout this season and I'm so excited for what the future holds. We are looking ahead to the sectional and state meets now."
Things got started off right for the Tigers with a win in the 200-yard medley relay, as the team of Grinter, Daniel Sanchez, Austin Norcio and Logan Oertle won with a time of 1:46.45, while Granite's team of Alex Weaver, Maddox Kennedy, Wyatt Loftus and Christopher Taylor was third at 1:57.29, Alton's team of Lucas Frye, Austin Norton, Michael Anderson and Victor Humphrey were fifth at 2:00.83 and Collinsville's team of Nathan Weil. Brad Lentz, Preston Tillman and Aiden Gimple were sixth with a time of 2:02,85. The Crusaders' Garrett Busch won the 200-yard freestyle at 2:01.78, with the Tigers' Ridge Batchelor coming in third at 2:17.94. Osborn won his first event of the meet in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 1:55.19, while Loftus came in second at 2:31.09.
Grinter won his first individual race in the 50-yard freestyle, coming in at 22.59 seconds, with teammate Eddie Myers placing second at 23.04 seconds, while Ian Olson of the Knights was eighth at 25.25 seconds, Weaver had a time of 25.80 seconds, Kennedy was in at 25.82 seconds, Weil came in at 26.00 seconds, Norton was clocked in 26.06 seconds, Triad's Ethan Schmidt had a time of 27.09 seconds, Tillman was in at 27.71 seconds and Frye had a time of 28.74 seconds. All scored points for their respective teams.
The Tigers went one-two in the one-meter springboard diving event, with Hunter Schuleter winning with 161.30 points and Ryan Schlechte second with 134.45 points. Edwardsville went one-two in the next event as well, with Osborn winning the 100-yard butterfly at 53.81 seconds, while Owen Gruben was second at 57.76 seconds, with Lentz placing fifth at 1:12.18.
It was another one-two finish for Edwardsville in the 100-yard freestyle, with Grinter winning the event at 50.77 seconds and Luke DeConcini second at 54.24 seconds. Triad's Ian Olson was eighth at 58.30 seconds, Loftus came in 10th at 58.88 seconds, Schmidt had a time of 1:03.91, Highland's Finnegan Stever was in at 1:04.64, Braden Smallie of the Warriors was clocked in 1:06.63, Anderson had a time of 1:07.80 and Lentz came in at 1:11.94. All swimmers earned points for the respective teams. Norcio won the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:17.31, while Sam Borden of the Tigers was third at 6:30.39.
The Tigers' team of Osborn, Sanchez, Gruben and Norcio won the 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:34.16, with Granite's team of Kennedy, Loftus, Taylor and Weaver came in fourth at 1:47.51, and the Kahoks' team of Weil, Lentz, Tillman and Gimple were seventh at 1:53.07. Myers took the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 57.39 seconds, with Frye coming in third at 1:10.06, Edwardsville's Adam Koester was fourth at 1:13.39, Stever placed fourth with a time of 1:15.69, Weaver was seventh at 1:21.33 and Taylor came in eighth at 1:31.50.
Sanchez won the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:07.49, with Kennedy second at 1:12.70, Lucas Schardt was third at 1:13.99, Weil was fifth with a time of 1:16.43, Norton was ninth at 1:19.65, Humphrey was 10th with a time of 1:26.75, Tillman scored for the Kahoks with a time of 1:30.41 and the Bulldogs' Bryant Smith picked up points for Highland with a time of 1:34.59. In the meet's final event, the team of Gruben, Grinter, Osborn and Myers won the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:24.29.
The Tigers and other local teams will swim in the IHSA sectional meet on Feb. 19, with the state meet at the FMC Natatorium in Westmont Feb. 25-26.Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
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