Swim team wins conference and section titles

Robert Wasiluk

The Como Park boys’ swimming team made history during the 2025-26 season by winning the Section 4A Championship, the first section title for the team in its 47-year history. In the regular season, the Cougars won the St. Paul City championship which was the seventh conference crown in program history.

Como’s performance in the section meet produced numerous personal and school records, resulting in the Cougars qualifying for state in every event. The 200-medley relay team of senior Joey Schumacher, junior Noah Williamson, and sophomores Chester Realbanas and Emilio Kennedy set another school record in the state meet while earning the consolation championship, placing 9th overall.

Williamson broke the school record in the 100-yard backstroke and placed fourth in state. He also swam in the state finals for the 100 butterfly and finished 15th. Schumacher placed fifth in the state for the 100 freestyle. He also qualified for the state finals in the 50 free and finished 13th.

Additional Como swimmers who qualified for state in various events included senior Ben Clark, juniors Arthur Anderson, James Thompson and Charlie Loth, and sophomore diver Ethan Imbertson.

Joey Schumacher was selected the Section 4A Swimmer of the Year. Coach Victor Hanson was inspired by the team’s work ethic and dedication.

“Swimming is a highly individual sport where it is just you in the water with no one but yourself as the judge of the effort you’re putting in,” Hanson said. “It is not always easy to keep going and stay focused, but when these swimmers did, some amazing things happened.

State meet for Nordic skiers
The Nordic skiing sprint relay team of seniors Henry Simmons and Colin Johnson qualified for state with a solid second place finish in the Section 4 Meet. They concluded their high school skiing careers by placing 11th in the state out of 24 competitors.

For Simmons, it was his third state meet, having previously qualified as an individual. For Johnson, reaching state was a remarkable achievement considering he only started skiing as a freshman.
“It was special to be able to compete at state,” Johnson said. “It was a lot of fun to compete and train with a guy like Henry.”

State meet for wrestler
Como senior Makiya May won the Section 4 girls’ wrestling title for her weight class which qualified her for a second straight state meet. (Go to monitorsaintpaul.com to read April 2025 feature on May’s first run.) May won her first two matches at state, held at the Grand Casino Arena in downtown St. Paul, reaching the state semifinals.

National Merit Scholar bound for MIT
Como senior Aleia Lueck has been named a National Merit Finalist. There were over 1.3 million entries for the National Merit Scholarships. Lueck’s selection means she represents the top one percent of American students. She will be attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology next fall to study engineering and swim for the girls’ team.