When Johnson touched the pad and the clock stopped, the cheers turned into a full-out eruption. Not only did he take down Marquette senior Jack Pozega, who entered Tuesday’s meet with the fastest 100 time in the U.P. this season at 1:01.26. Johnson kept his undefeated run in the event intact and chiseled nearly three seconds off his personal best, posting a blistering 58.86 to become the first U.P. swimmer since 2023 to break one minute in the event.

Johnson, who finished third in the 100 back as a freshman at last year’s U.P. Finals, is now the clear favorite for the title this season with the meet less than a month away. His effort Tuesday, along with contributing to Flivver wins in the 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays and posting a second in the 100 butterfly, fueled the boys team to an 85-73 victory over the Sentinels.

The Kingsford girls came up on the short side of 93-77 decision, taking a ding in the meet’s opening event when their 200 medley relay finished first but was disqualified for a stroke violation during the breaststroke leg of the race.

Nonetheless, with Marquette in the house, the Flivvers were clearly fired up to perform. Along with Johnson’s marquee highlight, Kingsford posted 22 personal best swims in the meet.

Kingsford junior Alexa Hearn set personal bests in the 50 and 100 freestyle in Tuesday's meet against Marquette at the Northern Lights YMCA Dickinson Center pool.

“At this point in our training, that should not happen,” Flivvers head coach Jim Lindstrom said. “That’s how amped they were for this meet.

Calling Johnson’s swim “incredible,” Lindstrom was all smiles at the performances up and down the Kingsford roster.

“It was a great meet,” he said. “Marquette is a veteran well-coached team. There were a lot of really close races, that makes it an exciting meet to watch.”

One of those razor-thin margins came in the boys 200 free, with senior Sam Lamirand dropping better than 2.5 seconds off his personal best to overtake Marquette junior Beau Deiter 2:05.92 to 2:06.01. Lamirand also collected a Flivver win the 100, touching just ahead teammate Quinten Smith, 58.70 to 58.77.

Junior Thomas Gibbons kept doing his thing to produce two more individual wins for the Flivvers. He posted a six-second victory and personal best in the 200 IM (2:19.28) and also took the 100 breaststroke (1:08.95).

For the girls, sophomore Allison Deuter breezed to two individual wins. She set a new personal best and 2025-26 U.P. standard in the 200 IM with a 2:27.11, which was more than 16 seconds faster than anyone else in the pool. Deuter was nearly 14 seconds faster than the field to win the 100 fly in 1:07.84, her quickest time in the event this season. That time is the third-fastest in the U.P. this season. Marquette’s Kaytlin Roell holds the fastest mark there by less than a second, but she did not go head to head with Deuter at Tuesday’s meet.

Roell instead swam to a win in the 200 free (2:10.62) and came up short in a bid to take down junior Ella McLean in the 100 breaststroke, McLean registering a 1:18.22 to Roell’s second place time of 1:21.33. McLean also notched a personal best with a third in the 100 free (1:06.40).

Sophomore Aubree Peterson earned a win in the 500 free (6:12.62) and her second-place swim in the 200 free (2:17.32) marked a personal best. Junior Jocelyn Lindbeck swam her best ever 200 free in 2:31.75, which was good for fifth on Tuesday and a new U.P. Finals qualification for Kingsford.

The Flivver girls also saw personal bests set by senior Marley Dixon, fourth in the 200 IM (2:54.28); senior Chloe Blazer, fourth in the 50 free (31.64); senior Maddie McKinnon, in the 50 free (37.97); junior Alexa Hearn, in the 50 (38.33) and 100 free (1:28.50); Norway junior Myah Gilroy, fourth in the 100 fly (1:40.24) and fifth in the 100 back (1:22.82); Norway junior Jade Welcenbach, in the 100 free (1:17.26); and junior Olivia Sage, fifth in the 100 breaststroke (1:37.52).

Additional personal best milestones on the boys team included senior David Arcand, third in the 200 free (2:17.98) and fourth in the 100 fly (1:06.27); senior Lyam Schooler, fifth in the 50 free (30.71), freshman Michael Covitz, second in the 500 free (7:11.87); and freshman Cooper Meyers, third in the 100 back (1:23.19).