Cohen Osborn of Edwardsville won the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke at Saturday’s Sandburg Invitational swim meet in Orland Park.

ORLAND PARK – Christian Rhoten was searching for a new experience for his Edwardsville High boys swim team. After competing in the Carl Sandburg Invitational on Saturday, Rhoten said mission accomplished – with some positives to boot.

Edwardsville’s Cohen Osborn was a double winner at the 12-team invite in suburban Chicago. The EHS junior grabbed first-place finishes in the 200-yard individual medley and in the 100 backstroke.

The Tigers finished sixth in the final team standings.

“This was our first time at this meet for the guys,” Rhoten said. “We wanted to add a travel meet to our schedule and were able to grab a spot at a fun invite.

“There was a lot of stiff competition, but across the board, we had solid performances.”

Maine South High School won the championship with 409 points, followed by Naperville Central with 389, Marmion Academy 292, Fenwick 279, Champaign Central 240, Edwardsville 184, Huntley 154, Carl Sandburg High 148, Joliet Township 72, Elk Grove 44, Lincoln- way Central 36 and Brother Rice High School 30.

Osborn, last season’s Telegraph Prep Swimmer of the Year, grabbed first place in the 200 IM in a time of 1:58.73, well ahead of second-place finisher Alex Lakin of Naperville Central, who swam a time of 2:00.26.

In the backstroke, Osborn’s winning margin was much closer. He finished in a time of 52.83 seconds, out-touching Marmion’s Ljubomir Popovic, who posted a time of 52.90.

“Cohen was able to get the two wins,” Rhoten said, “and we had multiple seasons and even lifetime bests.”

Other Edwardsville swims included Eddie Meyer sixth in the 50-yard freestyle in a time of 23.15 seconds, Owen Gruben 10th in the 100 freestyle iin 52.81, Austin Norcio sixth in the 500 freestyle in 5:16.19, Daniel Sanchez seventh in the 100 breaststroke in 1:06.39.

Edwardsville’s Myers, Sanchez, Osborn and Gruben teamed up to finish seventh in the 200 medley relay. In the 400 freestyle relay, Meyers, gruben, Norcio and Osborn combined for a sixth-place finish.

With repairs completed last week at the Chuck Fruit Aquatic Center at EHS, the Tigers can practice and compete at their home following a three-month absence because of work on the HVAC system.

“From here on,” Rhoten said, “we will be focused entirely on sectionals and state moving forward.”

The area IHSA boys sectional meet is scheduled for Feb. 18 at the CFAC in Edwardsville, with qualifying swimmers moving on to the Boys State Swim Meet set for Feb. 24-25 at the FMC Natatorium in Westmont.