Girls Swim and Dive State Meet set for three-day run
Posted: Monday, November 15, 2021 - 4:54 PM
Visitation in Class A, and Edina in Class AA, the last state champions in 2019, are well represented this season as the state meet returns of the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center after a one-year hiatus because of the global pandemic. Visitation, a long-time Class A power, has 27 individual qualifiers and relay teams while Edina features 16 individuals and relay teams.
In Class A, Hutchinson seniors Grace Hanson and Hailey Farrell, along with Delano junior Emma Kern, are looking to add to championships captured in 2019. In Class AA, Wayzata junior Claire Reinke also is hoping to capture another title.
Here is a look at the state meet:
Class A
Visitation, a seven-time Class A champion, won just the 200 medley relay in 2019, and it returns that event two years later.
Hutchinson, the runner-up in 2019, returns with four swimmers that won championships and two title-winning relay teams. Hanson was the champion in the 50 freestyle and the 100 freestyle events in 2019 and Farrell returns in the 200 individual medley and 500 freestyle. Hanson tied the Class A record of 22.79 seconds in the 50 freestyle in 2019 and enters this state meet with a seed time of 23.45. Both she and Farrell also swam legs on the 400 freestyle relay team that set the Class A standard of 3:26.41 in 2019. The Tigers have the best qualifying time of 3:32.76 in that event this year.
Hutchinson won the 200 freestyle relay in 2019 and returns with the fastest qualifying time of 1:38.43. The Tigers feature 15 combined individuals and relay teams in this week’s state meet.
Delano and Sauk Centre shared the third-place trophy in 2019. Delano junior Emma Kern set the Class A record of 54.94 in the 100 backstroke in 2019, and has this season’s fastest seed time of 54.74. Delano returns with 12 individuals and teams this year while Sauk Centre has qualified three individuals.
Class AA
Edina has won the past four team championships. Megan Phillip and Claudia Chang won the 1-meter diving and the 50 freestyle, respectively, in 2019. Both Phillip and Chang have now graduated, but the Hornets are still well represented. Leading the way are junior diver Shanze Karimi, and eighth-grader Libbi McCarthy and juniors Skyler Kieffer and Ella Hall in the 50 freestyle.
Minnetonka finished second in 2019 and is back with 26 individuals and relay teams. The Skippers won all three relays in 2019 and have the best qualifying times in all three events this season. Minnetonka enters at 1:43.17 in the 200 medley relay, 1:35.21 in the 200 freestyle relay and 3:27.32 in the 400 freestyle relay, the final event of the meet.
Eden Prairie completed the Lake Conference trifecta with a third-place finish as a team in 2019. The Eagles have 10 individuals and relay teams this season.
Wayzata’s Reinke won the 100 butterfly in 2019. She is the swimmer to beat in this season’s event, coming in with the fastest qualifying time of 53.97.
