Both Brainerd Warrior relays slipped a few places Saturday in the consolation finals of the Class 2A state meet at the University of Minnesota Aquatics Center.
The 200 medley relay of Preston Owen, Michael Bylander, Gunnar Niemeyer and Griffin Blegen finished 14th at 1:38.76. They were ninth in Friday's prelims at 1:37.37.
"It was unfortunate," Warriors coach John Zemke said. "They really seemed focused and ready to go. They really wanted to go after that school record (1:37.00). It just wasn't in the cards. Apparently they ran out of gas. They wanted to improve on (Friday's prelim time) as much as they could but it didn't happen.
"Life is going to go on. They're all back next year so they will a get few more chances to break that school record."
In the 200 free relay, the team of Owen, Bylander, Blegen and Devan Liebeg finished 16th at 1:29.99. In Friday's prelims, they were 14th at 1:29.48.
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"They were half a second slower (in the finals)," Zemke said. "Half a second doesn't sound like a lot of time but in a relay if you go half a second slower at state someone else is going to move up.
"For the most part, their splits were close. Devan Liebeg had a lifetime best split on that relay, anchoring that, so that was a positive."
In Friday's prelims, Bylander tied for 18th in the 200 IM, Niemeyer finished 21st in the 100 butterfly, Owen was 23rd in the 100 backstroke and Bylander 23rd in the 100 breaststroke.
"Overall it was a good weekend," Zemke said. "We dropped a lot of time the last few weeks. Eventually you can't drop any more time.
"They performed well. We were happy with the prelims Friday. Every race was faster. They just ran out of gas Saturday. You're always trying to go faster but it just didn't happen."
Class 2A Finals
200 medley relay: 1-Minnetonka 1:29.20; 14-Brainerd (Preston Owen, Michael Bylander, Gunnar Niemeyer, Griffin Blegen) 1:38.76.
200 freestyle relay: 1-Eden Prairie 1:23.49; 16-Brainerd (Owen, Bylander, Blegen, Devan Liebeg) 1:29.99.
