By Eric Erickson
Como Park senior Aleia Lueck swam the final races of her high school career in the same pool at the University of Minnesota Aquatics Center where she competed in the last four Minnesota State Class A Swim Meets.
Lueck saved her best for last, posting personal lifetime records in her two events. She swam the 50-yard freestyle in 23.52 seconds to win the state championship and completed the 100-yard free in 52.17 to take the second-place state medal.
In the process, she became the first state swim champion in Como Park High School history and gave the Cougar community one more point of pride in a spectacular sports season.
“I’m so happy that I was able to win state this year,” Lueck said.
Not that there was anything wrong with her previous state medals, which include multiple fourth-place finishes. But being able to drop her times from previous years, produce peak performances when they were needed and walk away with a championship? It was the perfect ending.
“I had a better attitude and was in a better headspace going into many meets, especially state,” Lueck explained. She stopped worrying about the competition. Instead, she focused on what she could control and was happy when her times were dropping — even if someone finished ahead of her in an elite meet.
That mentality and her commitment to a new training regimen had Lueck perfectly positioned for personal bests at state. The coach with the plan was Christina Ward — who also happens to be Aleia’s mother.
Ward is in her second season as the head coach of Cougar girls swimming. Like most coaches looking to improve their craft, Ward studied. In her case, she researched biomechanics about sprint swimming and implemented different workouts for the team’s star swimmer.
“Aleia bought into those training changes and really worked hard this season. In addition, her race mindset also made a big difference,” Ward said.
“More than prior seasons, she used each race as an opportunity to improve. Even if everything in her race didn’t go as expected, she was able to reflect on what worked well and what didn’t work well. She had two major goals this season – break the conference record in the 50 free (check) and try to win state (check).”
Lueck plans to keep swimming at the college level and study engineering. With a perfect score on the ACT, it’s fair to say her foundation for future success is strong.
Winter sports
Nordic Skiing
The Como Nordic team started their season with dryland training in the relative warmth of early November. December’s abundant snow delivered good skiing conditions on groomed trails.
Endurance athlete and author Elspeth Kate Ronnander visited the Cougars to lead a workout at an early season session on the Como Park Golf Course. She guided the group through the technique of bounding, with athletes using ski poles to tackle the hills, engaging the muscles they’d use when skiing.
Following the workout, Elspeth discussed her book, Going the Distance — Piecing Together a Life of Adventure and signed copies for each team member and coach.
Como senior Henry Simmons is working to qualify for his third state meet. He competed in state as a freshman and again last year as a junior when he finished 27th out of 110 skiers.
Wrestling
The Como wrestling program is growing with increasing numbers of participants for both the boys’ and girls’ teams. A busy schedule of weekend tournaments is designed to create ample opportunities for wrestlers to compete.
In a city dual meet, it’s common for some weight classes to not be filled. Conversely, multi-team tournaments bring more wrestlers together for several matches within a day. That’s motivation for road trips to places such as Hutchinson for a girls-only tournament or St. James in southwestern Minnesota for a boys’ tourney with over a dozen schools.
Como senior Makiya May has a goal of getting back to the state final and winning it. She was the state runner-up in her weight class as a junior.
Boys Swimming
Four Cougars who qualified for state last year are back, led by senior captain Joey Schumacher and junior captain Noah Williamson. They each qualified for two individual events at state last year, plus the 400-yard relay with teammates Arthur Anderson and Emilio Kennedy.
Head coach Victor Hanson says the team is highly motivated and extremely supportive of each other. With nearly all swimmers returning from last year’s team and the depth of 27 participants, Como is aiming for continuous improvement and an abundance of personal records.
Eric Erickson is a social studies teacher at Como Park High School and a longtime coach of school and youth sports in St. Paul.
Photo credit: Como Park senior Aleia Lueck reacts to winning the state title in the 50-yard freestyle. (Minnesota State High School League photo.)
