Marquette’s Beau Deiter takes a breath while swimming the boys 500-yard freestyle during the MHSAA Upper Peninsula Finals in swimming and diving held at Marquette Senior High School on Saturday. (Photo courtesy Daryl T. Jarvinen)

MARQUETTE — Marquette’s dominance of the MHSAA Upper Peninsula Swimming and Diving Finals continued on Saturday.

The Sentinels won their seventh straight championship and 33rd U.P. finals meet in all. The one change this year was in the runner-up position, with Kingsford moving into second place, scoring 200 points to winner Marquette’s 298.

Houghton had been the runner-up for the past five years.

Sault Ste. Marie was a close third with 184, while the Gremlins had 174. Ishpeming-Negaunee was sixth with 92, Westwood seventh with 83 and Manistique eighth with 71.

Marquette swept the girls and boys team titles for the fifth straight time. The Sentinels may not have had quite the depth they’re used to having, but it was still enough to keep the hardware coming.

“We didn’t fill events for the first time in several years,” Marquette coach Nathan McFarren said. “That’s a big deal. You have to have two to three in each event to have that depth. We didn’t have the depth — we were small but mighty.

“I would say most of our events, we had two people finishing at least in the top eight. That was the difference.

“Houghton and Kingsford had some solid wins, Sault Ste. Marie (too). Overall, the wealth was spread out pretty well, but I think it just came down to that depth.”

Junior Beau Deiter picked up Marquette’s only individual win on the boys side, taking the 500-yard freestyle in 5:32.94. 

“I didn’t know what was going to happen going into it,” he said. “Me and Lenden Ellis from the Soo, we were seeded right next to each other. We were two milliseconds apart.

“I did not know what was going to happen. I was behind going into the first little bit, but then I got to a pace and I just stuck with it.”

His freshman brother, Lucas Deiter, placed second in 5:34.02, beating out Ellis by 0.72 of a second.

“That was a fun one,” McFarren said. “Lucas, as a freshman, he was in fourth place with 12 1/2 yards to go and he took over the Soo boy to get second place with his brother. That was pretty special.”

Marquette’s other victory came in the 200 free relay in 1:38.25 with Josiah Youngren, Cade Kruhak, Gavin Mills and Jack Pozega. Youngren is a junior and his three relay teammates are all seniors.

From other area schools, Westwood’s Isak Ruspakka had the most success, accounting for three third-place finishes in the 50 free, 100 free and as anchor leg of the Patriots’ 400 free relay.

Ishpeming-Negaunee’s Trent Emard was also third in the 100 backstroke and took fifth in the 100 butterfly, while Manistique’s Spencer Mills was fourth in the 200 individual medley. The Emeralds were also fifth in the 200 medley relay.

Kingsford’s Bryce Johnson won an individual U.P. title last season, and he made it two as a sophomore this year. He was the only swimmer to finish in under a minute in both the 100 fly and the 100 back.

He finished the butterfly in 58.73 seconds, nearly three seconds ahead of runner-up Gavin Mills of Marquette. His 58.44 time in the backstroke was nearly five seconds ahead of Marquette’s Pozega in second place (1:03.28).

Johnson repeated as U.P. champion in the butterfly, going much faster than last year’s 1:03.50.

“It feels awesome, two in a row now,” he said. “I was super nervous, especially with Marquette, they’re my biggest competitor.

“I was behind at first, and then I caught up later in the season and I found my way to the top.”

Johnson first finished in under a minute in the backstroke in a late January meet — that was the first time anyone has pulled off that feat in the U.P. since 2023, the Iron Mountain Daily News reported. That’s his best race, his coach, Jim Lindstrom, said.

Johnson was also a member of Kingsford’s winning 200 medley relay (1:45.25).

Gladstone senior Tyler Soderman won both the 50 free (23.03) and the 100 free (50.92). 

Kingsford junior Thomas Gibbons took first in both the 200 IM (2:16.29) and the 100 breaststroke (1:04.37). He won the breaststroke by just over five seconds and the IM by nearly six. Gibbons was also on the winning 200 medley relay.

“He had two personal bests today, especially in the breaststroke,” Lindstrom said. “He brought a 1:08 down to a 1:04. He’s really doing well.”

Sault Ste. Marie’s Ryker Medrick won the 200 free (1:58.08) and was also a part of the victorious 400 free relay (3:42.23).

Jason Juno is the sports editor of The Globe in Ironwood. This story is posted on the MHSAA website at www.mhsaa.com.