Black Dog Swimming

When Head coach Rocky O’Neil was asked about the meet he watched, his first comment was “You know, Paul (Tierney) only led the 100 free for only one one-hundredth… it was the most important hundredth. That was a great race.” He also mentioned that there were a lot of exciting races to watch, he was very happy to see everyone do so well. 

Eight different teams had Black Dog swimmers on the roster of the 42 that had state qualifiers. Burnsville led the pack with a 3rd place finish overall. Lakeville North and Apple Valley were also in the top 10. Eastview, Prior Lake, Bloomington Kennedy, Eagan and Lakeville South were the others.

In order for a swimmer to be considered a National High School All-American he must be scholastically eligible and swimmers must be in at least the 9th grade. Swimmers are then required to achieve a qualifying time. There are two time standards for each event: AAA: which is an ‘Automatic All- American’ time. Or the AAC or ‘All-American Consideration’ which places that particular swim on a list to be compared to other national times achieved, then the top times are then given the All-American status.

Paul Tierney 200 Free 1:40.68 (Automatic), 100 Free 45.56 (Automatic)

Paul Young 200 IM 1:55.13 (Consideration), 100 Back 51.01 (Automatic)

Burnsville 200 Medley Relay 1:37.01 (Automatic)

(B. Hueman, T. Jensen, T. Elling, D. Kramer)

Apple Valey 200 Free Relay 1:27.88 (Consideration)

(L. Switzer, B. Stewart)

Burnsville 200 Free Relay 1:28.04 (Consideration)

(P. Tierney, T. Jensen, T. Elling, D. Kramer)

Apple Valley 400 Free Relay 3:13.96 (Consideration)

(L. Switzer, B. Stewart)

To be an All-State Swimmer or Diver, you must finish within the top 8 at finals. This year we have the following All State Athletes:

Andy Steeg 400 Free Relay
David Kramer 200 Med Relay
Jon McDonald 200 Free Relay
Matt Mitchell 400 Free Relay
Sam Rauchwarter 200 Free Relay
Tyler Webb 400 Free Relay 

2-Time All State Award Winners:

Travis Jensen 200 Med Relay, 200 Free Relay 

Lance Switzer 200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay

Ben Stewart 200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay

3-Time All State Award Winners:

Brady Hueman 200 Med Relay, 100 Back, 400 Free Relay

Paul Young 200 IM, 100 Back, 400 Free Relay

4-Time (out of a possible 4) All State Award Winners:

Paul Tierney 200 Free, 100 Free, 200 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay
Tom Elling 200 Med Relay, 100 Fly, 500 Free, 200 Free Relay

To be a State Champion, first you must qualify, then you make it back into the top eight for finals, then you beat everyone else to the finish line. It’s sort of the whole point of racing.

Paul Tierney 200 and 100 Freestyles
Paul Young 100 Back