MARQUETTE — With illness ravaging the Houghton Gremlins swim teams, both the boys and girls teams gutted out the U.P. Finals in Marquette on Friday and Saturday. The boys finished runner-up to Marquette over the course of the weekend.

“Both teams were battling the flu this past week, and it had some impact on how things went,” said coach Erik Johnson. “However, everyone that was still standing made some outstanding efforts to secure the best possible placing for the team.”

Beau Haataja earned the Gremlins only event win, taking the 100-yard backstroke. He also finished third in the 200-yard freestyle to help pace the boys to their second-place finish.

Ian Evans finished second in the 100-yard breaststroke. Anderson Limkemann placed third in the 100-yard breaststroke. Baha Saleem took third in diving.

Collin Raasio took third in the 200-yard individual medley, and then followed that up with a second-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle.

Josh Bennett took fifth in the 100-yard backstroke. Brett Gaff took sixth in the 200-yard individual medley.

The 400-yard freestyle relay team of Haataja, Gaff, Bennett and Raasio took second. The 200-yard freestyle relay team of Evans, Bennett, Raasio, and Haataja took third. The 200-yard medley relay team of Oliver Anderson, Evans, Gaff, and Limkemann took sixth.

On the girls’ side, Meg Ruohonen and Naomi Frahm led the team by finishing third and fourth, respectively, in diving.

Stella Suomis finished sixth in the 100-yard freestyle.

The 200-yard freestyle relay team of Heidi Cischke, Kayleigh Carlson, Evelyn LaTendresse and Soumis took fourth place. The 400-yard freestyle relay team of Rose Dennis, Aya Keteri, LaTendresse and Soumis earned a third-place finish.

“The girls team is very young, but (it) got some great experience for the future,” said Johnson. “We only lose one senior from our team going into next season, so this is a great finish to build on for the future.”

Johnson was extremely proud of the effort he got from all his swimmers over the weekend.

“It was an outstanding season, and I couldn’t be more proud of the efforts these kids put in all season long, while holding themselves to the highest standards of sportsmanship,” he said.