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Three Austin seniors dipped in Bud Higgins pool for their last home meet as the Packers lost to Rochester Mayo 94-73 on senior night Thursday.

Austin senior Riley Ferguson took first in diving with a score of 218.85. and he was a little emotional in his final home meet with the Packers, especially because Austin has just three seniors in Ferguson, Zach Evenson and foreign exchange student Francisco Lorenzoni, who is from Italy.

“The last home meet is always very emotional and now it’s my senior year and it’s a whole new thing. I’m very thankful for these last few years and all of these fans that have been here to support me along the way,” Ferguson said. “Zach and I have been friends since our days back in elementary school. He’s grown so much as a swimmer and person as well. He’s so fun to hang around with.”

Ferguson has also gotten a chance to work with his younger brother Levi, who is a JV diver, this season. 

“It’s different. When I first started I dove with my friend Riley (Norton) who had the same first name as me and now I’m diving with someone with the same last name as me,” Ferguson said. “It can be both good and bad at practice, but it’s fun to have (Levi) on the team for sure.”

Austin’s Brent Dahl and Evenson teamed up with Hunter Peters and Lucas Myers to win the 200-medley relay with a time of 1:45.13. Dahl took first in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 23.40 seconds and he won the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:02.64.

Dahl has been solid for the Packers throughout the season and he continues to improve.

“I’ve been putting in the work and finding a rhythm. I’ve stayed pretty consistent throughout the season,” Dahl said. “We have a lot of fast swimmers on this team, we just don’t have enough to win too many meets.”

While Austin is short on swimmers this season, the team is competitive with its top athletes.

“We don’t have a lot of competition in practice and I just try to race the teammates who are there and I try to better myself. I think I definitely push Brent,” Evenson said. “I think we’re a pretty fast team, but we just don’t win meets because of our size.”

Evenson said it was tough to compete in Bud Higgins Pool for the last time.

“It’s kind of sad, but it was a good way to end it,” Evenson said. “Riley and I have both worked pretty hard to get to the point that we’re at now. We’ve both put in the work and it paid off. It’s given us a pretty good season so far.”

AUSTIN RESULTS

200-medley relay: Brent Dahl, Hunter Peters, Lucas Myers, Zach Evenson (first, 1:45.13); Zach Voogd, Francesco Lorenzoni, Simon Pischke, Julian Koch (fourth, 2:13.79)

200-freestyle: Zach Evenson (second, 1:58.73); Noah Holt (fifth, 2:10.45)

200-individual medley: Lucas Myers (third, 2:19.53)

50-freestyle: Brent Dahl (first, 23.40); Zach Voogd (fifth, 27.82); Francesco Lorenzoni (sixth, 29.01)

Diving: Riley Ferguson (first, 218.85); Gage Rasmussen (second, 161.15)

100-butterfly: Lucas Myers (third, 1:01.15); Simon Pischke (fifth, 1:13.98)

100-freestyle: Hunter Peters (third, 53.92)

500-freestyle: Brent Dahl (first, 5:02.64); Olin Burke (fifth, 7:21.14)

200-freestyle relay: Zach Evenson, Zach Voogd, Noah Holt, Lucas Myers (second, 1:40.29)

100-backstroke: Simon Pischke (fourth, 1:14.58); Zach Voogd (fifth, 1:17.85); Julian Koch (sixth, 1:34.47)

100-breaststroke: Hunter Peters (second, 1:07.23); Zach Evenson (fifth, 1:14.76)

400-freestyle relay: Brent Dahl, Noah Holt, Simon Pischke, Hunter Peters (third, 3:51.39)