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Sports Sun Current Newspapers welcomes your sports news and story ideas. Send to sports editor Jason Olson at [email protected]; mail to: Sun Current,10917 Valley View Rd., Eden Prairie MN 55344. Follow the Sun Newspapers sports editors on Twitter: @MNSunSports and on Facebook: Sun Newspapers Sports Guys, facebook.com/sunsportsstaff/ current.mnsun.com Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019 • Page 15 Distractions aside, Wallace wins section diving title By JASON OLSON [email protected] Jefferson junior diver Sam Wallace has a real- istic chance to make it two-in-a-row for Jaguars divers at the top of the 1-meter diving podium at the Class AA state meet later this weekend. Wallace scored a 414.60 to out-pace Prior Lake senior Erik Thompson by 20.95 points for his fi rst section title, reaching one goal he had coming into the season to advance to the state meet. “I needed over 40 points to win so I had to have a solid dive to win,” Wal- lace said, leading after the prelims and semifi nal rounds after consecutive fi fth-place fi nishes in sec- tions the last two years. “Last year I had the fl u and double ear infection and just missed out. So, I was happy I was able to make it this year.” Due to the snow day, Feb. 21, the section diving meet was moved to Fri- day during the school day which made for an inter- esting scene as the public address system piped into the pool area during the meet but didn’t disrupt Wallace. “It defi nitely gave me more time to be nervous about it,” he said. Last season, Jefferson’s Andy Pfau captured his second state title with a 467.05, which is just over three points higher than Wallace’s season-best mark of 463.80 set Feb. 2 at the Hibbing Invite. Wallace said: “I actu- ally feel I dove better [at sections] than I did [in Hibbing],” adding that having Pfau not only at sections but at recent practices helped prep him for the biggest meet yet. “He was reassuring me that as long as I do what I do, it will work out in the end,” Wallace said. He added a couple new dives to his repertoire including a back-somersault 2-1/2 twist just this season. Wal- lace plans to add an in- ward-2 1/2 to his dives to add points at state instead of an inward double. He is familiar with the state meet arena at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center but hasn’t had an opportunity to compete, yet. Wallace was on hand to see Pfau win state as a freshman and comes into state as the high seed. “I like having the pres- sure,” said Wallace, in his fi fth season of diving. “It defi nitely makes me want to work for it, like [Feb. 22]. I had to work for it because [Thompson and Erik Dahl of Shakopee] are both really good.” Wallace led them both at the section true team meet by a couple points, which helped motivate him to train his focus for the end of the year. “I had to work at it be- cause if I slacked off they could easily pass me,” he said. As for advice from Pfau about diving at state, Wal- lace said the environment is what usually catches fi rst-time divers off guard, “and they usually don’t do well but I dive better un- der pressure so hopefully it works out.” How did Wallace get a start in diving? “It’s just different,” he said. “I’ve always liked fl ipping. I taught myself how to do a backfl ip on the ground and took it from there.” Swimming Jefferson will be repre- sented at the state meet thanks to the efforts of the 200-yard medley relay team to beat the qualify- ing time standard. The relay team of freshman Preston Le, junior Alex Johnson, sophomore Car- los Andert and senior Jon Halaska fi nished fi fth in a time of 1:38.86, which was under the qualifying time of 1:39.37. Kennedy’s re- lay team of sophomore Nathaniel Schueller, se- niors Joe Bergquist, Bai- ley Bauer and Kevin Sch- letty was sixth in 1:43.57. Minnetonka outscored runner-up Chanhassen- Chaska for by 72 points for the Section 2AA team title at the StormHawks pool on Feb. 22. Jefferson was sixth with 181 points and Kennedy was seventh with 86 points trailed by eighth-place Burnsville (SUN CURRENT STAFF PHOTO BY JASON OLSON) Jefferson diving coach Braden Fraser, left, hangs the blue ribbon fi rst place medal around junior Sam Wallace’s neck during the Section 2AA diving title. (SUN CURRENT STAFF PHOTO BY JASON OLSON) Jefferson diving coach Braden Fraser, left, hangs the blue ribbon fi rst place medal around junior Sam Wallace’s neck during the Section 2AA diving title. with 54 points. Jefferson’s Johnson and Le were alongside each other on the podium dur- ing the 200-yard Individ- ual Medley. Johnson was fi fth in 2:01.76 and Le was sixth in 2:02.70, narrowly missing the state cut time of 1:58.53. Andert was 10th in 2:06.85. Halaska fi nished sixth in the 50 free fi nal in 22.29 seconds as the top 10 swimmers each beat the previous pool record time of 22.47. The state qualifying time was 21.97. Halaska was ninth in the 100 free fi nal in 49.14. Andert was also 10th in the 100 fl y in 53.49 while Kennedy’s Bauer was 11th in 54.19. Le swam to a fi fth-place fi nish in the 100 back in 54.75, missing the state qualifying time of 53.49. Johnson touched the wall in 56.76 to place 11th. Kennedy’s 200 free relay of Schletty, eighth-grader Tyler Kauffman, Schuel- ler and Bauer was sixth in 1:34.83 and Jefferson’s relay of eighth-grader Aiden Schermak, Owen Larson, Zach Boldenow and J.T. Sjoquist was sev- enth in 1:35.43. Kennedy’s Bergquist was 13th in the 100 breaststroke in 1:06.82 and the Eagles closed out the meet with a seventh- place fi nish in the 400 free relay with the team of Kauffman, Schletty, senior Jackson Nord and Schueller in 3:43.20. Jef- ferson was sixth in 3:21.60 with the team of Le, John- son, Andert and Halaska. Follow Jason Olson on Twitter @SunSportsJason.