The River Falls High School boys swim and dive team got its 2022-23 season started with a second-place finish at the annual Chippewa Falls Cardinal Invitational on Saturday, Dec. 3.

Throughout the Cardinal Invite, River Falls won multiple events including the 200yard Medley Relay, the 200-yard IM, the 50yard Freestyle, the 100-yard Butterfly, the 100-yard Freestyle and the 100-yard Breaststroke.

For River Falls swim and dive head coach Caitlin Brudzinski, the success at the Cardinal Invite was a continuation of success that many of her returning student-athletes sustained throughout the 2021-22 season.

Those returners include senior Taylor Matter, juniors Alton Lesneski and Kai Hagen and sophomore Daniel Carns. Those four River Falls standouts took care of business with a win in the first event of the meet, the 200-yard Medley Relay. The Wildcats posted a winning time of 1:46.18, nearly nine seconds faster than the second-place team.

Matter also earned a first-place finish in the 200-yard IM and the 100-yard Butterfly. The aforementioned Carns won the 50-yard Freestyle and the 100-yard Freestyle while Hagen took home first place in the 100-yard Breaststroke. Coach Brudzinski spoke about the first couple of weeks of the season, the Cardinal Invite and navigating the holidays.

“Things have been going well. We had our first meet of the season, an invite at Chippewa Falls on Saturday,” Brudzinski said. “As a team, we placed second and we won several events. Because we start the week before Thanksgiving, they get eight days of practice and then four days off so we almost start over again after Thanksgiving, especially with those brand new athletes.”

Having a strong returning roster primarily revolving around Carns, Matter, Lesneski and Hagen helped River Falls navigate the Thanksgiving break and have success at the Cardinal Invite.

The four aforementioned swimmers are hoping to make the 2022-23 season one of the best in River Falls history. They qualified for the 2021-22 State Swim and Dive Championship in the 200-yard Medley Relay and they are looking to continue that success this season.

“We talked about team goals last week and what we wanted to accomplish,” Brudzinski said. “I let the guys talk through and set some goals and they came up with four goals. The first one is very specific to the four swimmers in it, but they want to break the Medley Relay school record. They came close last year but didn’t quite get there. With the same line-up all year, I think that’s absolutely a possibility.”

For as strong as those four swimmers have been in the pool and the lofty expectations they’ve established for the 2022-23 season, they’ve been equally impactful in the locker room as leaders, especially Lesneski, who was voted as one of the two team captains along with Nathanial Fosler.

Their excellence in the pool and leadership in all other areas of the program have earned them the distinction of captain. Brudzinski spoke about River Falls’ locker room culture and how the roster has no shortage of leadership this season.

“Alton (Lesneski) and Nathaniel (Fosler) are our captains and they are already great leaders throughout practices and meets,” Brudzinski said. “I’ve been impressed this year with Taylor Matter’s leadership as a senior. Asher Herrera is one of the swimmers in our middle group and we can always count on him to encourage everyone and make sure that every single athlete has someone cheering for them at the end of the pool. He stepped up in that aspect last year and has continued with that this year.”

Throughout the first couple of weeks of the season, Brudzinski and the boys’ swim and dive roster brainstormed a list of goals for the season. In addition to breaking the school Medley Relay record, the Wildcats have three other primary goals to accomplish.

The Wildcats are targeting a second-place finish in the Big Rivers Conference, which would essentially mean getting a victory against either Eau Claire or Hudson, which have been the two preeminent programs in the BRC for years.

Despite competing in one fewer dual meet than last season, River Falls is targeting a 5-2 record, the same as last season, meaning they would have to pick up an additional win somewhere on the schedule – likely Hudson or Eau Claire. The fourth and final goal is to drop 250 seconds throughout the season, which would be 20 more than last year’s total.

While the season will unquestionably be driven by the Wildcats’ strong returning class, there are still new faces on the River Falls roster that are beginning their swimming and diving careers. Brudzinski spoke about the dichotomy on this year’s roster.

“Boys season is always interesting to get started because we get athletes with little to no swimming background who join the team, which is awesome, but it definitely takes time for those newer athletes to get used to everything,” Brudzinski said. “Similar to last year, we have a very split team in terms of abilities, but I’d say we have three groups this year: those who’ve been swimming for many years, our newer swimmers who swam last year, and our brand new swimmers this year.”

Although the roster has swimmers and divers of all skill levels, she stated that they’ve been nothing but a pleasure to work with and that the 2022-23 Wildcats are shaping up to be a very competitive team.

“They’re a great group of guys who are working to make sure everyone feels included and comfortable,” Brudzinski said. “We definitely have a solid core of athletes that will lead the team in the pool and I’m excited to see how everyone else comes along throughout the year.”

River Falls is back in action with its first Big Rivers Conference meet of the year on Thursday, Dec. 8, at home against the Chi-Hi Cardinals. That meet is slated to begin at 6:30 p.m.