Marquette's Ben Luke competes in the boys 100 yard butterfly Saturday at the UP Finals at Marquette Senior High School. (Journal photo by Shannon Stieg)

MARQUETTE — No matter what the sport, dynasties come to an end eventually.

But the Marquette Redmen’s reign at the top will continue for another year after Saturday’s Upper Peninsula high school boys swimming and diving finals.

Marquette dominated the competition again as the Redmen won their fourth straight championship. The Redmen finished with 312 points, well ahead of second-place Houghton’s 239.

Sault Ste. Marie was third with 203, Gladstone took fourth with 167 and Ishpeming-Negaunee ended up fifth with 123. Kingsford was sixth with 119, followed by Westwood with 75 and Manistique 13.

Even though it has become routine for the Redmen to finish on top at the U.P. Finals, Marquette head coach Nathan McFarren said that each one continues to be meaningful to both him and his team.

“It still feels pretty awesome,” he said. “What we’ve been able to accomplish is incredible. I’m just happy to be along for the ride.

“I give a lot of credit to this team. They realized that they needed to have respect for themselves and their coaches and have fun at the same time. You can’t be in sports without having fun and trusting each other.

“After that, the success just fell into place. We’ve won titles before, but this one was extra special. It was just an incredible day.”

The most impressive part of the Redmen’s victory is that they only won two events, both relays. The Redmen took the 200-yard medley relay and set a U.P. Finals record in the 200 freestyle relay with the team of Andrew Kilpela, Ryan Glover, Jed Weber and Matthew Nykanen.

“To top off that day with that record relay was just great,” McFarren said. “This pool has never seen that before and that’s pretty cool.”

Houghton gave Marquette a good fight, but the Redmen pulled away in the later events. The Gremlins won two events as Peter Jaszczak took first in 100 butterfly and Sal Sharp won the diving on Friday.

Sault Ste. Marie won three events, the biggest one Andrew Innerebner setting a U.P. Finals record in the 200 free. The Blue Devils also earned wins from Leevi Olson in the 50 free and the 100 breaststroke as well as the 400 free relay.

Gladstone’s Matthew LeClaire picked up both of the Braves’ victories. He won the 200 individual medley and set a U.P. record in the 100 backstroke. Kingsford’s Caleb Plumley was the final individual champion as he won the 500 free.

Ryan Stieg can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 252. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.