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Electing to remain in cold-weather states, Owen Nord of Rochester, MN, has sent his verbal to the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, CO. He swims for Rochester Century High School and represents Rochester Swim Club in club competition.
Nord is a two-time Minnesota Class AA (large) High School State qualifier, swimming the 50 and 100 free both years. In 2019, he swam matching 21.8’s in prelims and finals to finish 12th in the 50, and swam a 48.2 en route to 13th place. He also swam legs of the 200 and 400 free relays for Century in 2019, splitting a 22.0 and a 48.0 respectively.
He bettered both his times and finishes during the 2020 edition, making the A-final and finishing 4th in the 50 at a 21.0, and 7th in the 100 at a 46.5. The latter was a lifetime best for Nord. He actually raced the 50 thrice at this meet, as he tied for 8th in prelims and participated in a swim-off. His time of 20.97 is currently his fastest in an individual race. Century qualified the same free relays but also improved their finishes, with Nord splitting a 20.8 and a 46.7 to help earn fourth place in both relays.
His championship season meet for Rochester Swim Club in 2020 was the Minnesota Senior State meet, where he finished just off his bests in his primary events.
Top Times SCY:
- 50 Free- 20.97
- 100 Free- 46.53
- 200 Free- 1:43.58
The Colorado School of Mines is a Division 2 school participating in the Rocky Mountain Conference. This league also plays host to many other Colorado universities, including Colorado Mesa, Western Colorado, CSU-Pueblo, and Adams State. Their out-of-state competition includes teams such as Oklahoma Christian and Oklahoma Baptist. Mines was the runner-up to Colorado Mesa in the 2020 RMAC Championships.
As a pure sprinter with substantial individual and relay value, Nord being an immediate contributor at the conference level will be instrumental for the Orediggers, who will need as many conference points as possible in order to close the gap between them and CMU, the reigning two-time conference champions. Nord would have placed 8th in the 50 free A-final alongside Mines teammate Peyton Scherschel, who finished 3rd. He also would have qualified for the B-final in the 100 and 200 free. He would have also nabbed a spot on Mines’s 200 free relay.
Nord would be among Mines’ top tier of sprinters. On last season’s roster, he would have ranked 4th in the 50 and 6th in the 100 during the 2019-2020 season.
He joins a Class of 2025 that includes Michael Kietzman, Jarod Schahrer, Ronan Lauinger, and Andres Saa. Kietzman is a fellow sprinter out of Texas with similar times in the 50 and 100 of 20.9 and 46.7, respectively.
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Congrats! Doing the Med City proud. Good luck in college!