Henningsen and Baron qualify for state in Reed’s last hurrah
HIBBING — Joe Baron and Alex Henningsen are returning to the Class A state championships together for the second straight year.
Henningsen qualified in diving Saturday at the Section 4A finals in Hibbing, while Baron rebounded from a rough performance in preliminaries to qualify in the 50-yard freestyle and 100 freestyle.
The duo is giving long-time coach Beth Reed one more week around the pool.
“I’m so proud of all of them. It’s hard to walk away after a season like this,” said Reed, who’s coached on-and-off for 25 years.
“And it was nice to end with him down on the deck with me,” Reed added while pointing to her husband, Rick.
Henningsen finished second in diving with 324.65 points. Baron was third in the 50 (22.42 seconds) and ninth in the 100 (49.59), but he tallied the second-best time in the 100.
Baron was on the outside looking in after finishing fifth in the 50 and 12th in the 100 in prelims, but he relaxed Saturday in his final section meet and did exactly what was expected.
“I knew that was coming. We all knew,” Reed said about Baron qualifying for state. “He just has to have it in his head.”
Top four finishers in each event and any participants who beat the state-qualifying time advance to state. Baron couldn’t finish higher than ninth in the 100 because he didn’t finish in the top eight in prelims. He blew away his consolation heat in the 100 on Saturday, sending the small contingent of Broncos fans and his teammates into a frenzy. Not many swimmers advance to state from the consolation finals.
“I feel very relaxed right now,” Baron said between deep breaths following his performance in the 100. “... And dead.”
Baron had already qualified for state in the 50 when he blew through the 100.
“Because I did get in in the 50, it travels to the 100. It’s a morale booster,” he said.
This will be Baron’s fourth state meet. He finished 10th in the 50 two seasons ago before finishing fifth in the 50 and 10th in the 100 last season. He swam a leg of the 200 freestyle relay as a freshman. His goal this year is simple — beat the kids from his section, place as high as he can and earn a medal.
Henningsen, who finished 14th last year at state, also wants to medal this week. He knows what he has to do in order to have a shot.
“Relaxing, cause I know I could do it. And not worrying about anyone else. Just dive your own meet,” said the junior, who wore a Slipknot T-shirt during the section finals for “intimidation.”
Also earning medals for International Falls were Kirdan Wenger (diving) and Ames Bryant (100 butterfly). Wenger finished seventh in his final season with 276.15 points, while Bryant finished seventh with a season-best time of 59.94.
“I felt pretty good,” Wenger said. “It’s what I worked for my whole career — to place well at sections. Made me happy.”
Bryant, an all-conference lineman last fall on the football team, joked with coach Reed after the race that he was “too fat” to beat the state-qualifying time.
“He’s still one of the best kids I’ve ever coached, without a doubt,” Reed said. “Now he can concentrate on football.”
Two of the three Bronco relays earned season-best times Saturday. Baron, Wenger, Bryant and Henningsen finished ninth in the 200 medley (1:49.46), while Henningsen, Wilson Johnson, Bryant and Baron finished 11th in the 200 freestyle (1:38.29). Henningsen, Bryant, Chase Carrigan and Myles Wolden finished 11th in the 400 freestyle (3:56.11), but it wasn’t a season-best. Carrigan also finished 14th in diving with 217.2 points.
The Broncos as a team posted 110.5 points, which was good for eighth. Sartell-St. Stephen won the section with 347 points. Grand Rapids was runner-up with 338.
For photos, pick up today's edition of The Journal, or visit www.ifallsjournal.smugmug.com.
